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

These are scenes of a calm, rarefied order, as if a cell were a tidy factory with workers individually going about their focused tasks. —Quanta Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026

The long driveway winds through a sylvan setting, transporting you to a rarefied residence with a strong sense of legacy and permanence. —Mark David, Robb Report, 18 Feb. 2026

An Idaho beauty bathed in sunshine, ski legacy, and old-school vibes, Sun Valley occupies a rarefied place in the American ski imagination. —Denny Lee, Travel + Leisure, 16 Feb. 2026

Maybe this material — and certainly this knockout ensemble — could have delivered a movie with a less rarefied tone, if indeed the filmmakers were interested in that. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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