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Abnormal vs Rare - What's the difference?

abnormal | rare |

Rare is a synonym of abnormal.



As adjectives the difference between abnormal and rare

is that abnormal is not conforming to rule or system; deviating from the usual or normal type while rare is cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense).

As a noun abnormal

is a person or object that is not normal.

As a verb rare is

to rear, rise up, start backwards.

abnormal

English

Alternative forms

* anormal * (obsolete) abnormous

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not conforming to rule or system; deviating from the usual or normal type.
  • * 1899 , (Arthur Conan Doyle), A Duet , ch. 6:
    • And then after an abnormal meal, which was either a very late breakfast or a very early lunch, they drove on to Victoria Station.
  • Of or pertaining to that which is abnormal, in particular, behaviour that deviates from norms of social propriety or accepted standards of mental health.
  • * 1904 , (Jack London), The Sea Wolf , ch. 23:
    • Furuseth was right; I was abnormal , an "emotionless monster," a strange bookish creature, capable of pleasuring in sensations only of the mind.

    Synonyms

    * aberrant, anomalous, atypical, exceptional, extraordinary, irregular, odd, strange, unusual.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person or object that is not normal.

    • References

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    rare

    English

    Etymology 1

    From a dialectal variant of rear, from (etyl) rere, from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (UK)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (cooking, particularly meats) Cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense).
  • * Dryden
    • New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care / Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare .
    Synonyms
    * (cooked very lightly) sanguinary
    Antonyms
    * (cooked very lightly) well done
    Derived terms
    * medium-rare

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) rare, from (etyl) rare, .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Very uncommon; scarce.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
    • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • (label) Thin; of low density.
    • Synonyms
    * (very uncommon) scarce, selcouth, seld, seldsome, selly, geason, uncommon
    Antonyms
    * (very uncommon) common
    Derived terms
    * rare bird * rare earth mineral
    Related terms
    * rarity

    Etymology 3

    Variant of rear .

    Verb

    (rar)
  • (US) To rear, rise up, start backwards.
  • * 2006 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day , Vintage 2007, p. 328:
    • Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
  • (US) To rear, bring up, raise.
    • Usage notes
    * (rft-sense) Principal current, non-literary use is of the present participle raring' with a verb in "'''raring''' to". The principal verb in that construction is ''go''. Thus, '''''raring''' to go'' ("eager (to start something)") is the expression in which '''''rare is most often encountered as a verb.

    Etymology 4

    Compare rather, rath.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) early
  • * Chapman
    • Rude mechanicals that rare and late / Work in the market place.

    Anagrams

    * ----