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

What began as a joke about turning the once-awkward sidekick into a digital-age Dick Cavett has since become one of the internet’s more rarefied interview rooms, drawing comedians, rappers, and politicians into Friedland’s orbit. — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 29 June 2026

Wimbledon 2026 starts Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London, and on the most rarefied surface in tennis, fans should expect surprises of all kinds. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 26 June 2026

But for the lucky few superfans with a few million to spare, a far more rarefied piece of Knicks history is about to hit the auction block. — Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 22 June 2026

Welcome to the fabulous life of Jen Rubio—co-founder and executive chairman of the luggage brand Away, investor, philanthropist, mother, probable billionaire, friend of society chronicler Derek Blasberg, and the fixation du moment of the most rarefied corners of Instagram. — Ashley Baker, Air Mail, 20 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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