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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
Acielle/style Du Monde, Vogue, 23 Jan. 2025
That's a question being debated in the rarefied air of Davos, Switzerland, as billionaires and less wealthy movers and shakers gather at the World Economic Forum to consider the global issues of the day, from climate change to artificial intelligence to poverty.
—Kamala Thiagarajan, NPR, 22 Jan. 2025
On the graphic novel side of things, James Tynion is in rarefied air as one of the few three-time winners of the Eisner Award, which puts him alongside.
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 21 Jan. 2025
Loading your audio article As winners of three Super Bowls in the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs already breathe rarefied air.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 17 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near rarefied
Cite this Entry
“Rarefied.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
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