rarified
2
9.3
- adjective
- /ˈrɛrəˌfaɪd/
- Literature
:
elevado
- This film is amazingly personal to Ford, but also formally at times way over the top; a rarified taste, perhaps, though I like it.
Examples
-
She'd wanted to test herself outside the rarified atmosphere of a graduate program of seminars and endless research projects.
Fiction book (2001) -
But politically, I have always thought of myself as a kind of populist, so I wouldn't want my art to appeal to just a rarified audience.
Blog text (9) -
This is a rarified view which virtually no one in the Mission shares.
Blog text (32) -
That's a really rarified atmosphere those guys run in, and it requires other people to support them because there is really no money in mathematics.
Blog text (20) -
In fact, the house is livable only if the occupants transform their material lives in accordance with rarified architectural precepts.
Fiction book (1992) -
What struck me in thinking of Surrealism in relation to Dada was the degree to which the former existed as a literary movement, tied to the culture of poetry and the book, and a rarified social world.
Academic text (2003) -
The rarified world of the honorary doctorate provides a telling illustration of the Matthew Effect: "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance."
Academic text (2002) -
Elena Kagan is a daughter of privilege from Manhattan who has spent her career in the rarified air of the cloistered elite, never even deigning to represent or work with the common citizen.
Blog text (7) -
Now, at the age of sixty-eight, he finally finds himself ranked alongside such luminaries as Warhol, Judd, Nauman, Polke, and Richter, but his ascension to this rarified circle was a long time coming.
Academic text (2005) -
The academic conference attracted speakers from rarified backgrounds, known for their exceptional contributions to science.
Synonyms
419
3.7
Having high moral or intellectual aims
43
6.7
Extremely beautiful or great in a way that makes people feel wonder
39
5.1
Showing high moral ideas or aims that seem admirable and often not realistic
9
6.8
Someone who has strong moral beliefs and high ideals
5
9.9
Ideas that only a small group of experts understand
1
7.7
Ideas or feelings that seem noble and inspiring
1
6.6
A person who cares very strongly about what is right and fair
1
8.9
Using words or ideas that sound grand and showy but feel unrealistic
High in moral, intellectual or artistic value
Having strong beliefs about how people should behave to make the world better
Very elegant and cultured in style or manners
Antonyms
How Refined
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Rarified also comes from the Latin rarus meaning 'not common' and is related to the word rare, so you can think of something 'rarified' as belonging to a small, special group. A helpful way to remember is to imagine a quiet room with very few people: 'rarified' circles or ideas feel 'refined' and 'exclusive', which is why the word means high or lofty in style or thought.