Link Centre Dictionary

rather

rat·her

UK/ˈɹɑː.ðə(ɹ)/ US/ˈɹæðɚ/ very common informal

adverb

1.

on the contrary

  • “rather than disappoint the children, he did two quick tricks before he left”
  • “he didn”
  • “;”
Synonyms
2.

to some (great or small) extent

  • “it was rather cold”
  • “the party was rather nice”
  • “the knife is rather dull”
  • “I rather regret that I cannot attend”
  • “He”
  • “;”
Synonyms
3.

more readily or willingly

  • “clean it well, preferably with warm water”
  • “I”
  • “;”
  • “d sooner die than give up”
Synonyms
4.

to a degree (not used with a negative)

  • “quite tasty”
  • “quite soon”
  • “quite ill”
  • “quite rich”
Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • I would rather die
  • rather than
  • sooner rather than later

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.