MEANING
1. To reduce the density of a gas or another substance.
2. To make something more refined, abstract, or removed from ordinary experience.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- rarefy the air
- rarefied atmosphere
On the page
The ascent rarefied the air until every breath seemed incomplete.
The pump rarefied the gas inside the chamber.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- rarefy
- Past tense
- rarefied
- Past participle
- rarefied
- Present participle
- rarefying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- rarefy
- Present continuous
- am/is/are rarefying
- Present perfect
- have/has rarefied
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been rarefying
- Past
- rarefied
- Past continuous
- was/were rarefying
- Past perfect
- had rarefied
- Past perfect continuous
- had been rarefying
- Future
- will rarefy
- Future continuous
- will be rarefying
- Future perfect
- will have rarefied
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been rarefying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: rarefy; rarefies; rarefied; rarefied; rarefying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: rarefies.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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