adj
Meaning 1
Prior; earlier; former.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
rather
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: rä′thə r
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɹɑː.ðə(ɹ)/
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General-American: răth′ər
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General-American: rä′thər
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General-American: /ˈɹæðɚ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Southern-US: rŭ’thə r
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Southern-US: rä’thə r
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Southern-US: /ˈɹʌðə(ɹ)/
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Southern-US: /ˈɹɛðəɹ/
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uncommon, Southern-US: /ˈɹɑːðə(ɹ)/
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Australian, New-Zealand: rä’thə
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Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈɹɐː.ðə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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South-Asia: /ˈrɑd̪ɦə(r)/
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South-Asia: /ˈrad̪ɦə(r)/ without the trap–bath split
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rhymes with -ɑːðə(ɹ)
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rhymes with -æðə(ɹ)
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rhymes with -ʌðə(ɹ)
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɹɑːˈðɜː(ɹ)/
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CMU ARPABET: R AE1 DH ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: R AH1 DH ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adv
Meaning 2
Used to specify a choice or preference; preferably, in preference to. (Now usually followed by than)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- I'd rather not have spent all the money, but it really was an emergency.
- I would like this one rather than the other one.
- I s'pose we'd better clean the kitchen, but we had much rather not do anything right now.
- Tomorrow's impossible. We'd rather you came next weekend.
- They'd rather've spent the money on a holiday.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sooner, liefer
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 3
Used to introduce a contradiction; on the contrary.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: conjunctive, not-comparable
Examples
- It wasn't supposed to be popular; rather, it was supposed to get the job done.
- She didn't go along, but rather went home instead.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 4
Introducing a qualification or clarification; more precisely. (Now usually preceded by or.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: conjunctive, not-comparable
Examples
- 1898, J. A. Hamilton, "Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith", in Sidney Lee (Ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, Volume LIV: Stanhope–Stovin, The MacMillan Company, page 60, His ‘Iliad’ is spirited and polished, and, though often rather a paraphrase than a translation, is always more truly poetic than most of the best translations.
- I didn't want to leave. Or rather I did, just not alone.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 5
Somewhat, quite; to an unexpected degree.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Qualifier: degree
Examples
- It's been rather/quite a good meal overall, but this melon is rather too tasteless.
- We had some rather worse news today.
- We’ll be seeing rather a lot of you over the next few days.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: somewhat, fairly, actually, unexpectedly
Antonyms: utterly
adv
Meaning 6
2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 45
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 7
2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 45: Translated from the original Latin, it reads, “Ivan the third; does it with birds.” Rather juvenile, don’t you think?
Translated from the original Latin, it reads, “Ivan the third; does it with birds.” Rather juvenile, don’t you think?
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 8
More quickly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sooner, earlier
Antonyms: none provided
intj
Meaning 9
An enthusiastic affirmation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, dated
Examples
- Would you like some? –Rather!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 10
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A choice or a preference.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated, informal, uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 12
To prefer; to prefer to.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dialectal, nonstandard
Examples
- You'd rather us be dead.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 13
to some (great or small) extent
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- it was rather cold
- the party was rather nice
- the knife is rather dull
- I rather regret that I cannot attend
- He's rather good at playing the cello
- he is kind of shy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: kind of, kinda, sort of
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 14
to a degree (not used with a negative)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- quite tasty
- quite soon
- quite ill
- quite rich
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: quite
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 15
on the contrary
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- rather than disappoint the children, he did two quick tricks before he left
- he didn't call; rather (or instead), he wrote her a letter
- used English terms instead of Latin ones
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: instead
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 16
more readily or willingly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- clean it well, preferably with warm water
- I'd rather be in Philadelphia
- I'd sooner die than give up
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: preferably, sooner
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English rather, from Old English hraþor, comparative of hraþe (“soon, early, fast”). More at rathe. Cognate with Dutch radder (“faster”), comparative of Dutch rad (“fast; quick”), German Low German radd, ratt (“rashly; quickly; hastily”), German gerade (“even; straight; direct”). By surface analysis, rathe + -er.
Across languages
Translations
176 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: liewer — preferably
- Arabic: بِالْأَحْرَى (bi-l-ʔaḥrā) — preferably
- Belarusian: хутчэ́й (xutčéj) — preferably
- Bulgarian: за предпочитане (za predpočitane) — preferably
- Catalan: preferiblement — preferably
- Catalan: més aviat — preferably
- Chinese Mandarin: 比較 /比较 (bǐjiào) — preferably
- Chinese Mandarin: 與其 /与其 (yǔqí) — preferably
- Chinese Mandarin: 寧願 /宁愿 (nìngyuàn) — preferably
- Czech: raději — preferably
- Czech: spíš — preferably
- Czech: spíše — preferably
- Danish: hellere — preferably
- Dutch: liever — preferably
- Estonian: ennem — preferably
- Estonian: pigem — preferably
- Finnish: mieluummin — preferably
- French: plutôt — preferably
- German: eher — preferably
- German: lieber — preferably
- Ancient Greek: μᾶλλον (mâllon) — preferably
- Ancient Greek: θᾶσσον (thâsson) — preferably
- Hungarian: inkább — preferably
- Hungarian: szívesebben — preferably
- Hungarian: jobban — preferably
- Icelandic: fremur — preferably
- Italian: preferibilmente — preferably
- Italian: piuttosto — preferably
- Japanese: 寧ろ (mushiro) — preferably
- Japanese: むしろ (mushiro) — preferably
- Japanese: 一層 (isso) — preferably
- Latin: potius — preferably
- Norwegian Bokmål: heller — preferably
- Norwegian Bokmål: fortrinnsvis — preferably
- Norwegian Bokmål: snarere — preferably
- Norwegian Nynorsk: heller — preferably
- Norwegian Nynorsk: fortrinnsvis — preferably
- Occitan: puslèu — preferably
- Old English: lēofre — preferably
- Polish: raczej — preferably
- Portuguese: antes — preferably
- Portuguese: preferivelmente — preferably
- Portuguese: de preferência — preferably
- Romanian: mai degrabă — preferably
- Russian: лу́чше (lúčše) — preferably
- Russian: скоре́е (skoréje) — preferably
- Serbo-Croatian: radije — preferably
- Sicilian: scanciu — preferably
- Spanish: preferiblemente — preferably
- Spanish: más bien — preferably
- Swedish: hellre — preferably
- Swedish: helst — preferably
- Swedish: snarare — preferably
- Turkish: daha ziyade — preferably
- Ukrainian: ра́дше (rádše) — preferably
- Ukrainian: скорі́ше (skoríše) — preferably
- Ukrainian: кра́ще (krášče) — preferably
- Ukrainian: шви́дше (švýdše) — preferably
- Welsh: yn hytrach — preferably
- Yiddish: ליבערשט (libersht) — preferably
- Belarusian: хутчэ́й (xutčéj) — on the contrary
- Bulgarian: по-скоро (po-skoro) — on the contrary
- Chinese Mandarin: 反而 (fǎn'ér) — on the contrary
- Chinese Mandarin: 反倒 (fǎndào) — on the contrary
- Danish: tværtimod — on the contrary
- Dutch: daarentegen — on the contrary
- Finnish: pikemminkin — on the contrary
- Finnish: vaan — on the contrary
- French: au contraire — on the contrary
- German: im Gegenteil — on the contrary
- German: sondern — on the contrary
- Hungarian: ellenkezőleg — on the contrary
- Hungarian: sőt — on the contrary
- Japanese: 寧ろ (mushiro) — on the contrary
- Korean: 오히려 (ohiryeo) — on the contrary
- Malayalam: മറിച്ച് (maṟiccŭ) — on the contrary
- Norwegian Bokmål: snarere — on the contrary
- Norwegian Bokmål: tvert imot — on the contrary
- Polish: raczej — on the contrary
- Portuguese: ao contrário — on the contrary
- Portuguese: aliás — on the contrary
- Russian: скоре́е (skoréje) — on the contrary
- Russian: напро́тив (naprótiv) — on the contrary
- Sicilian: scanciu — on the contrary
- Spanish: más bien — on the contrary
- Spanish: al contrario — on the contrary
- Swedish: snarare — on the contrary
- Turkish: bilakis — on the contrary
- Ukrainian: скорі́ше (skoríše) — on the contrary
- Ukrainian: навпаки́ (navpaký) — on the contrary
- Bulgarian: по-скоро (po-skoro) — more precisely
- Bulgarian: по-точно (po-točno) — more precisely
- Danish: snarere — more precisely
- Finnish: pikemminkin — more precisely
- Finnish: tarkemmin sanottuna — more precisely
- Georgian: უფრო სწორად (upro sc̣orad) — more precisely
- German: eher — more precisely
- German: um genau zu sein — more precisely
- Hungarian: vagyis — more precisely
- Hungarian: illetve — more precisely
- Hungarian: jobban mondva — more precisely
- Hungarian: azaz — more precisely
- Hungarian: azazhogy — more precisely
- Hungarian: helyesebben — more precisely
- Norwegian Bokmål: snarere — more precisely
- Norwegian Bokmål: heller — more precisely
- Polish: raczej — more precisely
- Portuguese: mais — more precisely
- Portuguese: ou seja — more precisely
- Portuguese: melhor dizendo — more precisely
- Portuguese: ou melhor — more precisely
- Russian: верне́е (vernéje) — more precisely
- Serbo-Croatian: tačnije — more precisely
- Spanish: más bien — more precisely
- Swedish: snarare — more precisely
- Ukrainian: ра́дше (rádše) — more precisely
- Belarusian: даво́лі (davóli) — somewhat, fairly
- Belarusian: до́сыць (dósycʹ) — somewhat, fairly
- Bulgarian: донякъде (donjakǎde) — somewhat, fairly
- Bulgarian: доста (dosta) — somewhat, fairly
- Catalan: força — somewhat, fairly
- Catalan: bastant — somewhat, fairly
- Catalan: més aviat — somewhat, fairly
- Chinese Mandarin: 相當 /相当 (xiāngdāng) — somewhat, fairly
- Danish: noget — somewhat, fairly
- Dutch: nogal — somewhat, fairly
- Dutch: tamelijk — somewhat, fairly
- Dutch: vrij — somewhat, fairly
- Dutch: redelijk — somewhat, fairly
- Dutch: best wel — somewhat, fairly
- Esperanto: sufiĉe — somewhat, fairly
- Faroese: nokkso — somewhat, fairly
- Faroese: rættiliga — somewhat, fairly
- Finnish: melko — somewhat, fairly
- Finnish: aika — somewhat, fairly
- French: plutôt — somewhat, fairly
- German: eher — somewhat, fairly
- German: ziemlich — somewhat, fairly
- German: recht — somewhat, fairly
- Greek: μάλλον (mállon) — somewhat, fairly
- Hungarian: elég — somewhat, fairly
- Hungarian: eléggé — somewhat, fairly
- Hungarian: meglehetősen — somewhat, fairly
- Italian: abbastanza — somewhat, fairly
- Italian: piuttosto — somewhat, fairly
- Japanese: かなり (kanari) — somewhat, fairly
- Latvian: diezgan — somewhat, fairly
- Latvian: gluži — somewhat, fairly
- Navajo: tʼáá yédígo — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Bokmål: ganske — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Bokmål: nokså — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Bokmål: temmelig — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Nynorsk: ganske — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Nynorsk: nokså — somewhat, fairly
- Norwegian Nynorsk: temmeleg — somewhat, fairly
- Polish: dość — somewhat, fairly
- Polish: dosyć — somewhat, fairly
- Portuguese: bastante — somewhat, fairly
- Portuguese: bem — somewhat, fairly
- Portuguese: um tanto — somewhat, fairly
- Portuguese: meio — somewhat, fairly
- Romagnol: abastânza — somewhat, fairly
- Russian: дово́льно (dovólʹno) — somewhat, fairly
- Russian: доста́точно (dostátočno) — somewhat, fairly
- Sicilian: bastanti — somewhat, fairly
- Spanish: algo — somewhat, fairly
- Spanish: bastante — somewhat, fairly
- Swedish: ganska — somewhat, fairly
- Swedish: rätt — somewhat, fairly
- Swedish: tämligen — somewhat, fairly
- Thai: ค่อนข้าง (kɔ̂n-kâang) — somewhat, fairly
- Turkish: bayağı — somewhat, fairly
- Ukrainian: доста́тньо (dostátnʹo) — somewhat, fairly
- Ukrainian: до́сить (dósytʹ) — somewhat, fairly
- Vietnamese: khá — somewhat, fairly
- Welsh: eithaf — somewhat, fairly
Real reading context