Word.ws English Dictionary

rare bird

rare bird noun: an unusual or exceptional person or thing.

Noun

rare bird (plural rare birds)

  1. (figuratively) An unusual or exceptional person or thing.
    • An occasional Afghan makes a good bushman. These rare birds, with the help of natives, found that by winding in and out over the soft ground of the valleys they could bring a camel-train where no wheeled transport could go.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 86
    • Finds it more physical, that's an important word / Always seen first then heard / Such a rare bird1977, “106 Beats That”, in Pink Flag, performed by Wire
    Synonyms:
    rara avis
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rare, bird.

Examples of rare bird in a sentence

  • If you are one of the rare birds who doesn't have a FICO score, or if your score is so low that you can't get a credit card, I want you to get a secured credit card.2004, Suze Orman, The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, page 95:
  • This makes him a rare bird, for most Democrats running for re-election are staying mum or apologising for their votes for reform.2010 October 14, “Coming back to bite him”, in The Economist:

Synonyms of rare bird

Forms of rare bird

pluralrare birds

Origin of rare bird

Calque of Latin rāra avis, part of a commonly quoted line from Juvenal's Satire VI: rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cygno ("a bird as rare upon the earth as a black swan").

Questions about rare bird

What does rare bird mean?
Rare bird means an unusual or exceptional person or thing.
How do you use rare bird in a sentence?
If you are one of the rare birds who doesn't have a FICO score, or if your score is so low that you can't get a credit card, I want you to get a secured credit card.
What part of speech is rare bird?
Rare bird is a noun.
What is the plural of rare bird?
The plural of rare bird is rare birds.

Words near rare bird in the dictionary

  1. rare animal
  2. rare animals
  3. rare as a four-leaf clover
  4. rare as hen's teeth
  5. rare as rocking horse shit
  6. rare bird
  7. rare birds
  8. rare earth
  9. rare earth element
  10. rare earth elements
  11. Rare Earth hypothesis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rare bird (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “rare bird.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rare_bird. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.