What does “rather” mean?
- 1
adverbused in “would rather” to say what you prefer
I’d rather stay home tonight.
- 2
adverbfairly or quite, often more than expected
The exam was rather difficult.
- 3
adverbused in “rather than” to mean instead of
Let’s walk rather than take a taxi.
Rather at a glance
- Part of speech
- adverb
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈræðɚ/ · RA-thur
How to use “rather” correctly
After “would rather” use the base verb without “to”: “I’d rather go”, not “I’d rather to go”.
Common phrases with “rather”
- would rather
- rather than
- or rather
Synonyms, opposites and related words
“rather” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- however adverbB1used to add a statement that contrasts with what was just said
- particularly adverbB1more than usual or more than others
- simply adverbB1in a way that is easy to understand
- actually adverbA2used to say what is really true, often when it is surprising
- else adverbA2in addition to or different from the person, thing or place already mentioned
- especially adverbA2more than usual or more than others; in particular
- even adverbA2used to show that something is surprising or more than expected
- exactly adverbA2completely correct, with no difference at all