1
—used with the infinitive form of a verb to indicate negation as a contrary choice or wish
rather than continue the argument, he walked away
chose to sing rather than play violin
2
: and not
obscures rather than resolves the problem
why do one thing rather than another?
happy rather than sad
: instead of
rather than being pleased, she was angry
Examples of rather than in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jackie Wattles, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
With her type of cancer, life expectancy is often measured in months rather than years.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Most mall redevelopments, rather than eliminating retail altogether, include retail, housing, and other types of uses in a close space.
—Irina Ivanova, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
This subjective standard would place enormous burden on patients, who may not recognize the symptoms of an extravasation and chalk them up to something else, rather than on clinicians, who should have the tools and training to perform these procedures properly.
—Pam Kohl and Bill Kiser, STAT, 12 Apr. 2024
Dorn likens this parenting style to being a coach rather than a dictator.
—Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 12 Apr. 2024
In the case of Maya and Carina, that meant accelerating the timeline slightly to show their early experiences with motherhood, rather than prolonging their struggles to start a family.
—Max Gao, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Today, rather than the passage of time neutralizing my understanding of her, experience has only reinforced how unnecessary her behavior was.
—Kara Panzer, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2024
But this is not inevitable, so managers and leaders must decide whether and how to commit themselves to reorganizing work around AI in ways that help, rather than hurt, their human workers.
—Ethan Mollick, TIME, 1 Apr. 2024
Phillip MacIak, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2023
But others said that these technologies should be viewed as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, animal testing.
—Emily Anthes, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2023
Moving forward, however, more and more states could be legalizing through the work of their state legislatures, rather than with ballot initiatives, Armentano said.
—Matt Stiles, CNN, 7 Mar. 2023
The shooting drew criticism of the officers' willingness to use lethal force rather than de-escalating a non-violent situation.
—Ashraf Khalil, ajc, 7 Mar. 2023
Most of the time the money goes toward improving existing parks, rather than acquiring new land, Jumper said.
—Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 7 Mar. 2023
The three officials characterized the decision as driven by public health, rather than foreign policy.
—Dan Diamond, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Mar. 2023
From the start, Ronaldson foresaw Webb’s cross-continental appeal and aimed for a record deal abroad rather than signing in the United Kingdom.
—Lyndsey Havens, Billboard, 7 Mar. 2023
Clasps are steel rather than plastic, and a strong steel core is covered with a weather-resistant plastic coating to increase durability.
—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Mar. 2023
Conjunction
Crew Dragon, Starliner and NASA’s own Orion capsule — designed to return humans to the moon later this decade — all launch atop rockets rather than being strapped to the side of them.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
With her type of cancer, life expectancy is often measured in months rather than years.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Most mall redevelopments, rather than eliminating retail altogether, include retail, housing, and other types of uses in a close space.
—Irina Ivanova, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
This subjective standard would place enormous burden on patients, who may not recognize the symptoms of an extravasation and chalk them up to something else, rather than on clinicians, who should have the tools and training to perform these procedures properly.
—Pam Kohl and Bill Kiser, STAT, 12 Apr. 2024
Dorn likens this parenting style to being a coach rather than a dictator.
—Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 12 Apr. 2024
In the case of Maya and Carina, that meant accelerating the timeline slightly to show their early experiences with motherhood, rather than prolonging their struggles to start a family.
—Max Gao, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Today, rather than the passage of time neutralizing my understanding of her, experience has only reinforced how unnecessary her behavior was.
—Kara Panzer, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2024
But this is not inevitable, so managers and leaders must decide whether and how to commit themselves to reorganizing work around AI in ways that help, rather than hurt, their human workers.
—Ethan Mollick, TIME, 1 Apr. 2024
Preposition
Engelhardt’s essay is a pointed exploration of the way that advertising seeps into children’s television and a critique of TV aesthetics that dull rather than enliven young minds.
—Phillip MacIak, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2023
But others said that these technologies should be viewed as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, animal testing.
—Emily Anthes, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2023
Moving forward, however, more and more states could be legalizing through the work of their state legislatures, rather than with ballot initiatives, Armentano said.
—Matt Stiles, CNN, 7 Mar. 2023
The shooting drew criticism of the officers' willingness to use lethal force rather than de-escalating a non-violent situation.
—Ashraf Khalil, ajc, 7 Mar. 2023
Most of the time the money goes toward improving existing parks, rather than acquiring new land, Jumper said.
—Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 7 Mar. 2023
The three officials characterized the decision as driven by public health, rather than foreign policy.
—Dan Diamond, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Mar. 2023
From the start, Ronaldson foresaw Webb’s cross-continental appeal and aimed for a record deal abroad rather than signing in the United Kingdom.
—Lyndsey Havens, Billboard, 7 Mar. 2023
Clasps are steel rather than plastic, and a strong steel core is covered with a weather-resistant plastic coating to increase durability.
—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rather than.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rather than
Cite this Entry
“Rather than.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rather%20than. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share