What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Rare vs Raw - What's the difference?

rare | raw |

In obsolete terms the difference between rare and raw

is that rare is early while raw is not covered; bare; bald.

As adjectives the difference between rare and raw

is that rare is cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense) while raw is of food: not cooked.

As a verb rare

is to rear, rise up, start backwards.

As an adverb raw is

without a condom.

As a noun raw is

an unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.

As an abbreviation RAW is

the rules as written: the actual rules appearing in the rulebook, as opposed to house rules, or as opposed to the rules that might have been intended (in the event of a mistake in the rulebook).

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

    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

    * ----

    raw

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Of food: not cooked.
  • Not treated or processed (of materials, products etc.); in a natural state, unrefined, unprocessed.
  • Having had the skin removed or abraded; chafed, tender; exposed, lacerated.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=7 citation , passage=‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw . Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’}}
  • New or inexperienced.
  • Crude in quality; rough, uneven, unsophisticated.
  • Of data, statistics etc: uncorrected, without analysis.
  • * 2010 , "Under the volcano", (The Economist), 16 Oct 2010:
  • What makes Mexico worrying is not just the raw numbers but the power of the cartels over society.
  • Of weather: unpleasantly damp or cold.
  • a raw wind
  • * Shakespeare
  • a raw and gusty day
  • (obsolete) Not covered; bare; bald.
  • * Spenser
  • with scull all raw

    Synonyms

    * See also * (without a condom)

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Adverb

    (head)
  • (slang) Without a condom.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (sugar refining, sugar trade) An unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.
  • * 1800 , Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association, The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer , Volume 22, page 287,
  • With the recent advance in London yellow crystals, however, the disproportion of the relative value of these two kinds has been considerably reduced, and a better demand for crystallized raws should consequently occur.
  • * 1921 , , The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry , Volume 13, Part 1, page 149,
  • Early in the year the raws were melted to about 20 Brix in order to facilitate filtration.
  • * 1939 , The Commercial and Financial Chronicle , Volume 148, Part 2, page 2924,
  • The world sugar contract closed 1 to 3 points net higher, with sales of only 36 lots. London raws sold at 8s. 4½d., and futures there were unchanged to 3d. higher.

    Anagrams

    * *