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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
Liz McNeil, People.com, 16 July 2025
Just looking at that rarefied list of shows — Veep, Game of Thrones, Friends, The West Wing — is a reminder that besides back-patting and bragging rights, the Emmys can be very good at setting the TV Zeitgeist.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 15 July 2025
In each, the combination of spirited movement (by Barnes) and gently confessional text (by Saenz de Viteri) in an uncommon, often rarefied, space reliably produced an unforgettable experience that somehow managed to be both deeply insightful and simply a delight.
—Brian Schaefer
july 7, Literary Hub, 7 July 2025
Eight years of thoughtful restoration later, Vetera Matera is one of the few hotels to have joined the rarefied ranks of Relais & Châteaux before opening.
—Helen Iatrou, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 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 30 Jul. 2025.
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