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View synonyms for

rarefy

[ rair-uh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

rarefied, rarefying.
  1. to make rare or rarer; make less dense:

    to rarefy a gas.

  2. to make more refined, spiritual, or exalted.


verb (used without object)

rarefied, rarefying.
  1. to become rare or less dense; become thinned:

    Moisture rarefies when heated.

rarefy

/ ˈɛəɪˌڲɪ /

verb

  1. to make or become rarer or less dense; thin out
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈˌھ, noun
  • ˈˌھ, adjective
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Other Word Forms

  • ·ھa· adjective
  • ·ھe noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rarefy1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rarefien, from Middle French rarefier, from Medieval Latin ھ, from Latin ŧڲ, equivalent to ŧ-, irregular, unexplained combining form of ܲ + facere “to make”; rare 1, -fy
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rarefy1

C14: from Old French éھ , from Latin ŧڲ , from ܲ rare 1+ facere to make
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

They’ll take you right into that rarefied world, without the extra comedy but with plenty of inherent drama.

From

Getting swept away by a fantasy world is one of moviegoing’s more rarefied pleasures, disbelief dissolving as readily as a pill on the tongue.

From

But he could not survive for long in the rarefied air at the summit of the sport, and the team sank even quicker than it rose.

From

In the more rarefied reaches of this coterie world, the mainstream embrace of “Topdog/Underdog” implied selling out.

From

For now, Torres has already transcended her previous celebrity status to enter a rarefied echelon as part of Brazil’s collective consciousness in a new way.

From

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rarefiedrare gas