rather as a adverb: - 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
rather
adverb
1 rather
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.
synonym: instead.
Roget 609:
optionally
etc.
adj.;
at pleasure
etc.
(will)
600;
either the one or the other;
or at the option of;
whether or not;
once and for all;
for one's money.
by choice,
by preference;
in preference;
rather,
before.
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Roget 643:
slightly
etc.
adj.;
rather,
somewhat,
pretty well,
tolerably.
for aught one cares.
Roget 651:
almost
&c.;
to a limited extent,
rather
etc.
32;
pretty,
moderately,
passing;
only,
considering,
all things considered,
enough.
2 rather
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.
synonyms: kind of, kinda, sort of.
3 rather
More readily or willingly:
— I'd rather be in Philadelphia.
synonyms: preferably, sooner.
4 rather
To a degree (not used with a negative).
synonym: quite.
Moby thesaurus: OK, Roger, a bit, a little, a rebours, absolutely, acceptably, adequately, after all, again, against the grain, albeit, all right, all the same, alright, alrighty, alternately, alternatively, although, amen, arsy-varsy, as an alternative, as you say, assuredly, at all events, at any rate, aye, before, but, by all means, by choice, by contraries, by election, by proxy, by vote, certainly, choose, choose rather, contra, contrarily, contrariously, contrariwise, conversely, da, decently, even, even so, exactly, extremely, fairishly, fairly, fairly well, faute de mieux, favor, fine, first, for all that, good, good enough, have a bias, have preference, have rather, hear, honor before, howbeit, however, in a measure, in a way, in any case, in any event, in flat opposition, in its place, in its stead, in loco parentis, in preference, in some measure, indeed, indeedy, instead, inversely, it is that, ja, just so, just the opposite, just the same, kind of, lean towards, like better, mais oui, moderately, more, more or less, most assuredly, naturally, naturellement, nay rather, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, of course, okay, on the contrary, oppositely, otherwise, oui, passably, per contra, please, positively, precisely, prefer, prefer to, preferably, presentably, pretty, pretty well, quite, quite the contrary, rather than, really, respectably, right, right as rain, right you are, righto, satisfactorily, scarcely, see fit, set before, slightly, so-so, somewhat, sooner, sooner than, sort of, still, sure, sure thing, surely, that is so, think best, think fit, think proper, though, to a degree, to be sure, to some extent, to the contrary, tolerably, topsy-turvy, tout au contraire, truly, unexceptionably, upside down, very, very well, vice versa, well and good, well enough, when, why yes, yea, yeah, yep, yes, yes indeed, yes indeedy, yes sir, yes sirree, yet, you are right, you said it, you speak truly ... show more.
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