Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. More readily; preferably: I'd rather go to the movies.
- adv. With more reason, logic, wisdom, or other justification.
- adv. More exactly; more accurately: He's my friend, or rather he was my friend.
- adv. To a certain extent; somewhat: rather cold.
- adv. On the contrary.
- adv. Chiefly British Most certainly. Used as an emphatic affirmative reply.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- More quickly; quicker. See rath, adverb, 1.
- Earlier; sooner.
- More readily or willingly; with better liking; with preference or choice; in preference, as compared with something else.
- In preference; preferably; with better reason; better.
- More properly; more correctly speaking; more.
- On the contrary; to the contrary of what has been just stated.
- In a greater degree; much; considerably; also, in colloquial use, in some degree; somewhat: qualifying a verb.
- In some degree or measure; somewhat; moderately: usually qualifying an adverb or an adjective: as, she is rather pretty.
Wiktionary
- v. To prefer; to prefer to.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Prior; earlier; former.
- adv. obsolete Earlier; sooner; before.
- adv. More readily or willingly; preferably.
- adv. On the other hand; to the contrary of what was said or suggested; instead.
- adv. Of two alternatives conceived of, this by preference to, or as more likely than, the other; somewhat.
- adv. More properly; more correctly speaking.
- adv. In some degree; somewhat.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. more readily or willingly
- adv. to a degree (not used with a negative)
- adv. on the contrary
- adv. to some (great or small) extent
Etymologies
- From Middle English rather, rether, from Old English hraþor ("sooner, earlier, more quickly"), comparative of hraþe ("hastily, quickly, promptly, readily, immediately, soon, at once, directly"), equivalent to rathe + -er. More at rathe. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old English hrathor, comparative of hræthe, quickly, soon, from hræth, quick. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“There are days when I just cannot have straight coffee, but rather make a *rather* chocolaty mocha. made with dark chocolate chips AH!”
“In the analysis of "_I had rather go_," _had_ is the predicate verb, the infinitive _go_ is the object complement, and the adjective _rather_ completes _had_ and belongs to _go_, i.e., is objective complement.”
Higher Lessons in English A work on english grammar and composition
“I have seen him in the streets when he would go anywhere, or turn down any passage, rather than meet me; and when compelled to meet me he would look up at the sky or survey the chimney tops _rather_ than see me. ”
The Hero of the Humber or the History of the Late Mr. John Ellerthorpe
“TRUNDLEBEN: I think it was rather -- perhaps _rather_ tragic, Sir Webley.”
“It was getting very near the holidays, already the middle of July, and though we had several times asked mamma where we were going, she had never been able to tell us, and at last she got tired of our asking, and said in her rather vexed voice -- she has a vexed voice, and a _very_ vexed voice as well, but when it isn't as bad as either of these we call it her "_rather_ vexed" voice.”
“(or rather I) who have done wrong or right, and the consequence is, that the American is _rather_ irritable on the subject, as every attack is taken as personal.”
“The earth's shadow on the moon is poetic, a sigh between sentences, using a definition rather than the word.”
“SMAs can be good for investors because the assets are held in their name rather than comingled with other investors' money in a fund.”
The Wall Street Journal: How 'Separate Accounts' Can Disappoint Investors
“Flashman's Khokandian friends seem to have used the term rather loosely, possibly because many of them were part Mongol by descent.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rather’.
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 319 more...
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Rats
rats, rat, tree-rat, pilori-rat, prorate, pro rata, Ratso Rizzo, ratfink, rat pack, Rat Pack, Rats!, rat race and 157 more...
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EN - Glasgow stop list
Words to be replaced by a paragraph mark if you are after terms and MWEs.
about, above, across, after, afterwards, again, against, all, almost, alone, along, already and 291 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...conferral, stateless, person, voting, right, subsidiarity, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and 2614 more...
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select words
luminous, radiant, malicious, zeal, ojalá, voluptuary, rubbish, purlicue, consarnit, upstart, precis, robinsonade and 66 more...
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In contrast
however, still, nevertheless, on the other hand, on the contrary, even so, notwithstanding, for all that, in contrast, alternatively, at the same time, though this may be and 26 more...
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Phrases to sort of qualify statements...
The little phrases that signify that your words might not necessarily say exactly what you want to express.
sort of, kind of, as it were, if i may so speak, tanquam, if i may so say, if i may be so bold, if i may use the ..., as ’twere, with respect, if i might add, and so forth and 46 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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words
my words. my mind. my gosh.
try not to enjoy it too much.git, ghoti, sauce, quail, querulous, quarrelsome, reliability, untoward, incongruities, fission, fanatic, apple and 206 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Prosie: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Ad...
(Given Saturday, March 4, 1865, Washington, D.C.)
Fellow-Countrymen:
At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended a...with all nations, among ourselves, a just and lastin..., cherish, achieve, to do all, for his widow and..., to care for him w..., to bind up the na..., let us strive on ..., with firmness in ..., with charity for all and 169 more...
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hard to sense
somewhat, somewhere, elsewhere, whereby, likewise, spite, ever, along, otherwise, whatever, whichever, hitherto and 116 more...
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the_grene_kni3t's Words
acuarela, sesquipedalian, capital, métier, chap, cove, guv, guv'nor, ratiocination, transatlantique, ineffable, aural and 142 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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My first attempt.
Simply stated, my first list.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rather.
qroqqa I should have rathered a blue gown, or a violet one; but Gentleman said it was the perfect dress for a sneak or for a servant
—Sarah Waters, Fingersmith
I'd never seen this verbal use before, and assumed Waters had researched authentic Victorian colloquialism. However, web search shows it quite common today too, with much the same argument structures as 'prefer'. Feb 23, 2009
moore4th i would rataher have you do thea Feb 15, 2007
moore4th i rather be at the mall Feb 15, 2007
the_grene_kni3t Rather: the only way I know to say "a lot" and make it sound like "sort of". Dec 29, 2006
tomharpel Rather, used as an afirmative or modifier, is annoying, e.g., "I rather enjoyed the performance." Dec 2, 2006