Rather
WordNet
adverb
(1) 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's rather good at playing the cello"
"He is kind of shy"
(2) To a degree (not used with a negative)
"Quite tasty"
"Quite soon"
"Quite ill"
"Quite rich"
(3) On the contrary
"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"
(4) More readily or willingly
"Clean it well, preferably with warm water"
"I'd rather be in Philadelphia"
"I'd sooner die than give up"
WiktionaryText
Adverb
- Preferably.
- Often used with than, which introduces the less preferable alternative:
- I'd rather stay in all day than go out with them.
- I'd like this one rather than the other one.
- Somewhat, fairly.
- This melon is rather tasteless.
- This melon is rather tasteless, especially compared to the one we had last time.
- More, more of.
- 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.
- 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,
Usage notes
- For sense 1 (preferably), would is nearly always contracted to 'd (see examples given above).
- This is a non-descriptive qualifier, similar to quite and fairly and somewhat. It is used where a plain adjective needs to be modified, but cannot be qualified. When spoken, the meaning can vary with the tone of voice and stress. "He was rather big" can mean anything from "not small" to "huge" (meiosis with the stress on rather).