rarefied

adjective

rar·​e·​fied ˈrer-ə-ˌfīd 

variants or less commonly rarified

1

: being less dense

2

: of, relating to, or interesting to a select group : esoteric

3

: very high

Did you know?

In the upper reaches of Chomolungma, known more familiarly as Mount Everest, the air is so rarefied—so much less dense than at lower elevations—that most climbers use supplemental oxygen in order to successfully complete their climb. This sense of rarefied, a word that comes from a combination of the Latin words rarus (“thin” or “rare”) and facere (“to make”), has been in use since the 1500s. A second, figurative sense of rarefied developed in the following century to describe things that can only be understood by a small or select group, i.e. one “thinned” from the majority of people by dint of their unique experience, expertise, or status. It’s this sense that we use when we say that to successfully summit Chomolungma puts one in rarefied company—just over 6,000 people have made it to the top at the time of this writing.

Examples of rarefied in a Sentence

It's difficult to breathe in the rarefied air near the mountain's peak.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the two looks that stand out the most were dresses that Roach pulled straight from the couture shows in Paris—rarefied, one-of-a-kind gowns that few people ever get to see out in the world, let alone on an A-list celebrity. — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

Competing at his sixth and potentially final World Cup, Messi had delivered his usual rarefied excellence throughout the tournament — even at an age in which most soccer greats are well into retirement. — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 19 July 2026

But the point of a classical education isn’t to develop a rarefied skill. — Elias Wachtel, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026

A bit more than halfway to the runup to the July 17 final, this year’s World Cup is already reaching the rarefied air of something beyond even the NBA Finals or the World Series. — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 3 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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