rather

rath·er  (rr, rär)

adv.

1. More readily; preferably: I'd rather go to the movies.

2. With more reason, logic, wisdom, or other justification.

3. More exactly; more accurately: He's my friend, or rather he was my friend.

4. To a certain extent; somewhat: rather cold.

5. On the contrary.

6. (rûr, rä-) Chiefly British Most certainly. Used as an emphatic affirmative reply.

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[Middle English, from Old English hrathor, comparative of hræthe, quickly, soon, from hræth, quick.]

Usage Note: In expressions of preference rather is commonly preceded by would: We would rather rent the house than buy it outright. In formal style, should is sometimes used: I should rather my daughter attended a public school. Sometimes had appears in these constructions, although this use of had seems to be growing less frequent: I had rather work with William than work for him. This usage was once widely criticized as a mistake, the result of a misanalysis of the contraction in sentences such as I'd rather stay. But it is in fact a survival of the subjunctive form had that appears in constructions like had better and had best, as in We had better leave now. This use of had goes back to Middle English and is perfectly acceptable. · Before an unmodified noun only rather a is used: It was rather a disaster. When the noun is preceded by an adjective, however, both rather a and a rather are found: It was rather a boring party. It was a rather boring party. When a rather is used in this construction, rather qualifies only the adjective, whereas with rather a it qualifies either the adjective or the entire noun phrase. Thus a rather long ordeal can mean only "an ordeal that is rather long," whereas rather a long ordeal can also mean roughly "a long process that is something of an ordeal." Rather a is the only possible choice when the adjective itself does not permit modification: The horse was rather a long shot (not The horse was a rather long shot). See Usage Notes at have, should.

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rather

Adverb

1. fairly: that was a rather narrow escape

2. to a limited extent: I rather thought that was the case

3. more truly or appropriately: they tend to be cat rather than dog people

4. more willingly: I would rather go straight home

interj

an expression of strong affirmation: Is it worth seeing? Rather! [Old English hrathor, comparative of hrathe ready, quick]

USAGE: Both would and had are used with rather in sentences such as I would rather (or had rather) go to the film than to the play. Had rather is less common and now widely regarded as slightly old-fashioned.

Thesaurus

Adv.	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"; "used English terms instead of Latin ones" instead
	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"; "he is kind of shy" kind of, kinda, sort of
	3.	rather - more readily or willingly; "clean it well, preferably with warm water"; "I'd rather be in Philadelphia"; "I'd sooner die than give up" preferably, sooner
	4.	rather - to a degree (not used with a negative); "quite tasty"; "quite soon"; "quite ill"; "quite rich" quite

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rather

adverb 1. preferably, sooner, instead, more readily, more willingly

adverb 2. to some extent, quite, sort of (informal) kind of (informal) a little, a bit, pretty (informal) fairly, relatively, somewhat, slightly, moderately, to some degree

USAGE It is acceptable to use either would rather or had rather in sentences such as I would rather (or had rather) see a film than a play. Had rather, however, is less common than would rather, and sounds a little old-fashioned nowadays.

Translations

rather [ˈrɑːðəʳ] adv → antes, más bien (= somewhat); algo, un poco (= quite); bastante;

it's rather expensive → es algo caro (= too much); es demasiado caro;

there's rather a lot → hay bastante;

I would or I'd rather go → preferiría ir;

I'd rather not → prefiero que no;

I rather think he won't come → me inclino a creer que no vendrá;

or rather (= more accurately) → o mejor dicho

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rather [ˈrɑːðəʳ] adv (= somewhat) → assez, plutôt (= to some extent); un peu;

it's rather expensive → c'est assez cher (= too much); c'est un peu cher;

there's rather a lot → il y en a beaucoup;

I would or I'd rather go → j'aimerais mieux or je préférerais partir;

I had rather go → il vaudrait mieux que je parte;

I'd rather not leave → j'aimerais mieux ne pas partir;

or rather (= more accurately) → ou plutôt;

I rather think he won't come → je crois bien qu'il ne viendra pas

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rather [ˈrɑːðəʳ] adv (somewhat) → etwas;

(very) → ziemlich;

rather a lot → ziemlich or recht viel;

I would rather go → ich würde lieber gehen;

rather than (instead of) → anstelle von;

or rather (more accurately) → oder vielmehr;

I'd rather not say → das möchte ich lieber nicht sagen;

I rather think he won't come → ich glaube eher, dass er nicht kommt

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rather [ˈrɑːðəʳ] adv → piuttosto (= somewhat); abbastanza (= to some extent); un po';

it's rather expensive → è piuttosto caro (= too much); è un po' caro;

there's rather a lot → ce n'è parecchio;

I would or I'd rather go → preferirei andare;

I had rather go → farei meglio ad andare;

I'd rather not leave → preferirei non partire;

or rather (= more accurately) → anzi, per essere (più) precisi;

I rather think he won't come → credo proprio che non verrà

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rather

adv rather [ˈraːθə]

1 to a certain extent; slightly; a little He's rather nice; That's a rather silly question / rather a silly question; I've eaten rather more than I should have. nogal إلى حَدٍ ما по-скоро dosti, spíše ret; temmelig ziemlich μάλλον bastante; más bien, un tanto, un poco, algo üsna نسبتا melko plutôt, un peu בְּמִידַת מָה बल्कि štoviše, zapravo meglehetősen agak fremur, frekar piuttosto, un po' どちらかといえば 어느 정도는, 다소, 좀 gana, šiek tiek visai; diezgan agak tamelijk ganske, nokså, temmelig dość um tanto mai degra­bă; un pic довольно, несколько dosť dokaj malo ganska, [] nästan [] ค่อนข้าง oldukça, biraz, az çok 相當，有點兒 дещо, досить بڑی حد تک khá 相当，有点儿

2 more willingly; preferably I'd rather do it now than later; Can we do it now rather than tomorrow?; I'd rather not do it at all; I would/had rather you didn't do that; Wouldn't you rather have this one?; I'd resign rather than do that. voor, eerder يُفَضِّل по-добре spíše, raději hellere; i stedet for lieber καλύτερα antes que, mejor... que... pigem ترجیحا؛ با میل بیشتر mieluummin plutôt (que) מַעדִיף तुलनात्मक अर्थ में radije inkább, szívesebben lebih suka frekar, fremur piuttosto (～よりは)むしろ (...보다는) 오히려, 차라리 verčiau, geriau, greičiau labāk; drīzāk lebih suka liever heller, snarere raczej antes que mai degrabă (decât) охотнее, предпочтительнее skôr, radšej raje radije hellre, helst มากกว่า ...-den ziyade, ...-mektense 寧可 краще, охочіше ترجیحاً thà; thích hơn, chứ không 宁可

3 more exactly; more correctly He agreed, or rather he didn't disagree; One could say he was foolish rather than wicked. in plaas van, eerder as على الأصَح по-точно spíše snarere end besser gesagt μάλλον, για την ακρίβεια más bien, para ser más precisos õieti, pigemini به عبارت دیگر pikemminkin plutôt (que) לְיֶתֶר דִיוּק वास्तव में, दरअसल bolje rečeno, prije helyesebben; semmint; ahelyett, hogy lebih tepatnya fremur/heldur/frekar en piuttosto もっと正しくは 좀더 정확히 말하면, 오히려 tiksliau sakant, tikriau precīzāk []; drīzāk lebih tepat liever, eerder (eller) snarere właściwie, ściślej mówiąc, raczej (niż) antes (que) mai degrabă (decât) скорее, вернее skôr prej (kot) pre nego snarare, snarast, rättare sagt ถ้าจะพูดให้ถูก daha doğrusu, (şöyle) demek daha iyi olacak 更確切地，更正確地 скоріше, правильніше اس کے برعکس đúng ra 更确切地，更正确地