Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use rare in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Rare means very uncommon; scarce. Example: “Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.”

Examples of rare by meaning

adjectiveVery uncommon; scarce.

  • Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
  • In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
  • While many material components in Andromeda are familiar, we have also discovered rarer and more valuable materials; attributable to exposure to the Scourge, or mysterious alien technology.2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Technology: Augmentations Codex...

adjectiveSmall in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.

  • There were rare abrasions and contusions of the chest and upper extremities.2016 March, Amanda M McLemore et al., “Suicide by Bomb, with Decapitation”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
  • The deep septa are rare, thin, and oblique and have an apparent lesser organization, allowing great autonomy between superficial and deep fascia.2025 January-February, Caterina Fede et al., “The Human Superficial Fascia: A Narrative Review”, in (Please provide the book title or...

nounA scarce or uncommon item.

  • Most of the time, you do this by trading low-valued rares for more valuable ones or trading uncommons for rares.1995, George Baxter, Larry W. Smith, Mastering Magic Cards, page 116

verbTo rear, rise up, start backwards.

  • Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 328

verbTo rear, bring up, raise.

  • Here I have to say that I was walking along dark-hearted, my nose out of joint about Audie's notice of her, for just as quickly as my feelings kindled, my old envy rared.2013, Janet Peery, What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories, →ISBN

More sentences with rare

  • She bartered a bonsai for one of the rare books in my library.From the entry barter
  • His journal provides a rare window into his otherwise obscure life.From the entry window
  • Only three out of a thousand are born with this rare disease.From the entry out of
  • A fracture of the malleus handle is a rare traumatic middle ear lesion.From the entry malleus
  • Although it is rare, you may occasionally find a double-yolked egg.From the entry yolked
  • Be fair to people: not everyone can be empathic, like Cathy is. Her gift is rare.From the entry empathic
  • The resale value was high as the items were quite rare.From the entry resale
  • The dative of purpose is rare in this type of writing.From the entry dative of purpose
  • Tragically, her disease is so rare that the only effective medicine is an orphan drug.From the entry orphan drug
  • He revealed his beasthood only in rare moments of absolute cruelty.From the entry beasthood
  • This magazine is really rare. Only 20 copies are believed to be in existence.From the entry in existence
  • This word is very rare; it may be difficult to find usages of it in the wild.From the entry in the wild
  • He's usually quite confrontational anyway, but he's in rare form today so watch out.From the entry in rare form
  • Items with significant snob value include rare artworks, designer clothing, and sports cars.From the entry snob value
  • I lit upon a rare book in a second-hand bookseller's.From the entry light
  • This rare and possibly unique specimen must be conserved.From the entry possibly
  • A rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio.From the entry folio
  • The museum has an extensive collection of rare Chinese porcelains.From the entry porcelain
  • On rare occasions French-Canadian separatists have resorted to violence.From the entry separatist
  • The farmer specialized in the propagation of rare orchids.From the entry propagation
  • Plants with dimerous flowers are fairly rare.From the entry dimerous
  • The cretic pattern is very rare in English poetry.From the entry cretic
  • Seeing a steam engine in action is increasingly rare.From the entry in action
  • In the meadow he came across a rare flower.From the entry came across
  • Almost any antigen, no matter how benign under most conditions, can have immunopotential effects at least in rare circumstances or hosts.From the entry immunopotential
  • The itemization in this game is terrible. All the good items are so rare, it gives players no desire to grind at all.From the entry itemization
  • This is a rare fivepenny stamp.From the entry fivepenny
  • In the Catholic Church, new dogmas can only be declared by the pope after the extremely rare procedure ex cathedra to make them part of the official faith.From the entry dogma
  • This Tuesday and Wednesday, four holidays from different cultures and religions overlap in a rare calendar year.2026 February 16, Alicia Eler, “Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Lent in rare alignment this year. The holidays follow different solar and…. From the entry lent
  • Looksmaxxer ANDROGENIC secures a rare PSL 9 "True Eve" outside the club while wearing a WIG.2026 March 29, @kekzensky, X (post), archived from the original on 29 Aug 2026. From the entry True Eve
  • Although rarer and much more difficult to come by, proshots don’t have these same problems.2025 April 11, Melanie Webb, “The Great White Way on the Silver Screen: Proshots vs. Film Adaptations”, in The Student Movement, volume…. From the entry proshot
  • This rare phenomenon, called xenoparous reproduction, has never been observed before in the animal kingdom.2025 July 9, “Unbelievable discovery: Queen ants produce offspring of two different species, say scientists”, in The Times of India…. From the entry xenoparous

Meaning of rare

  1. adjective Very uncommon; scarce.
  2. adjective Small in number (but not unusual); infrequent; sparse.
  3. adjective Thin; of low density.

Full definition of rare

Questions about rare in a sentence

How do you use rare in a sentence?
Rare is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.”
What is a short sentence with rare?
“This is a rare fivepenny stamp.”
What does rare mean?
Rare means very uncommon; scarce.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rare (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use rare in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/rare. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.