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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
Naomi Rougeau, Robb Report, 19 Apr. 2025
The Frick’s Old Masters looked fine, though very different, and everyone probably missed the rarefied ambiance when Rembrandt, Turner, and Fragonard mixed with the Frick’s tassels, walnut walls, and fat sofas.
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 17 Apr. 2025
His collections are intentionally restrained: precision tailoring, rarefied fabrics, soft color palettes, monogram-free silhouettes.
—Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
His ability to control every facet of a game has vaulted him into rarefied air.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rarefied
Cite this Entry
“Rarefied.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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