rather
- adverb
- /ˈræðər/
- The weather was rather warm for a winter day.
- rather small
- rather difficult
- rather different
Well, it was, you know, my rather brief time in that world.
- Well, it was, you know, my rather brief time in that world.
- And that implies that it's rather small and shiny.
- Now, Dewey is a rather opaque author.
- Until recently this was deemed to be rather cranky.
- Now that is a rather big claim, isn't it?
- It's quite large but would make a rather measly throw rug.
- And I thinking I was rather unique and special about this thing.
- So we have this really rather unrealistic rate of shooting.
- In fact, it's rather unique if you've never seen one before.
- This is actually rather neat to prove in the binomial tree.
- That's a rather depressing thought that's been mooted.
Examples
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In fact, it's rather unique if you've never seen one before.
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OK, so it's a rather neat fact.
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So sometimes it's rather hard to hit things.
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And well, it's getting rather late.
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- Although, in a funny kind of way, I feel rather sorry for them.
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So they and the kings were rather limited in their power.
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In some sense, he seemed to be a rather lonely man, which surprised her.
Fiction book (1990) -
People like this tend to be rather awkward.
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Personally, I thought it was all rather nicely clear and simple.
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The idea of exclusive loyalty to one religion is rather foreign and incomprehensible to most people.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
To a small or medium degree
A small amount, not very much
To some degree but not completely
To some degree but not very much
To a small degree
To a small degree
To some extent but not completely
To some degree but not completely
To a fair degree but not very much
To some degree but not very much
By a small amount
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word rather originally showed a comparison like 'more' or 'sooner', and over time it came to mean 'to some extent', so when you say 'It was rather cold' you mean it was 'fairly' cold, not very cold.