Rather vs Next - What's the difference?
rather | next |
(obsolete) More quickly; sooner, earlier.
Used to specify a choice or preference; preferably. (Now usually followed by than )
*
(conjunctive) Used to introduce a contradiction; on the contrary.
(conjunctive) Introducing a qualification or clarification; more precisely. (Now usually preceded by or .)
* 1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew) :
* 1898, J. A. Hamilton, ", Volume LIV: Stanhope–Stovin , The MacMillan Company,
* , chapter=12
, title= (degree) Somewhat, fairly.
(nonstandard, or, dialectal) To prefer; to prefer to.
* 1984 , Bruce Brooks, The Moves Make the Man :
* 2002 , Sarah Waters, Fingersmith :
* 2002 , Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day :
* 2007 , Mikel Schaefer, Lost in Katrina , page 323:
(obsolete) Prior; earlier; former.
* Sir J. Mandeville
Following in a sequence.
Being closer to the present location than all other items.
* , chapter=8
, title= Nearest following (of date, time, space or order).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (figuratively) Following in a hypothetical sequence of some kind.
*
The one immediately following the current or most recent one
Closest to seven days (one week) in the future.
In a time, place or sequence closest or following.
On the first subsequent occasion,
On the side of; next to.
* 1900 , The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices , translated by Walter Leaf (London, Macmillan), notes on line 558 of book 2:
The one that follows after this one.
As adverbs the difference between rather and next
is that rather is (obsolete) more quickly; sooner, earlier while next is in a time, place or sequence closest or following.As adjectives the difference between rather and next
is that rather is (obsolete) prior; earlier; former while next is following in a sequence.As a verb rather
is (nonstandard|or|dialectal) to prefer; to prefer to.As a determiner next is
the one immediately following the current or most recent one.As a preposition next is
on the side of; next to.As a noun next is
the one that follows after this one.rather
English
Adverb
(-)- Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants.
- What the pupil already knew was indeed rather taken for granted than expressed, but it performed the useful function of transcending all textbooks and supplanting all studies.
page 60,
- His ‘Iliad’ is spirited and polished, and, though often rather a paraphrase than a translation, is always more truly poetic than most of the best translations.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.
Usage notes
* (somewhat) This is a non-descriptive qualifier'', similar to quite and fairly and somewhat. It is used where a plain adjective needs to be modified, but cannot be qualified. When spoken, the meaning can vary with the tone of voice and stress. "''He was rather big''" can mean anything from "not small" to "huge" (meiosis with the stress on ''rather ).Synonyms
* liever, liefer, as lief * (to a certain extent) somewhat, fairly, quiteAntonyms
* (somewhat) utterlyVerb
(en verb)- Until just before the pie was popped into the heat. A few of them suddenly realized who put that gorgeous hunk of crackers together, and gaped. We grinned back, but very cool. The ones who knew said nothing, rathering to die than let on they had been hustled by two negative dudes.
- It was a plain brown dress, more or less the colour of my hair; and the walls of our kitchen being also brown, when I came downstairs again I could hardly be seen. I should have rathered a blue gown, or a violet one
- So you must excuse my saying anything I did: all it was, that up to the very last I had understood us all to be friendly — apart, that is, from his rathering me not there. How was I to know he would flash out so wicked?
- "That was a killer," said Chris. "I'd rathered' die in St. Bernard than spent one minute over there. I would have ' rathered the storm, shaking with the wind and rain hitting in the boat for an eternity than spending any time there.
Adjective
(-)- Now no man dwelleth at the rather town.
next
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (dialectal) * (l) (Scotland)Adjective
(-)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=Philander went into the next room, which was just a lean-to hitched on to the end of the shanty, and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.}}
Out of the gloom, passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
Antonyms
* previous * (closest to seven days ahead) last, thisDeterminer
(en determiner)- Next week would be a good time to meet.
- I'll know better next time.
- The party is next Tuesday; that is, not this Tuesday, but nine days from now.
Adverb
(-)- They live in the next closest house.
- It's the next best thing to ice cream.
- Next , we stripped off the old paint.
- Financial panic, earthquakes, oil spills, riots. What comes next ?
- When we next meet, you'll be married.
Antonyms
* previouslyPreposition
(English prepositions)- The fact that the line cannot be original is patent from the fact that Aias in the rest of the Iliad is not encamped next the Athenians .
Noun
(-)- ''Next , please, don't hold up the queue!