rather

Less common meanings

6. 6
   yes indeedinterjectiondatedEngland

   Used as an enthusiastic expression of agreement or affirmation; yes, certainly.

   "Care to join us at the lake?" "Rather! I've been hoping you'd ask."

   "Do you mean to say, young man," she said frostily, "that you expect me to drink this stuff?" ¶ "Rather! Bucks you up, you know."

   1919, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves

   UsageUsed as a reply to a question or offer: Rather! or Oh, rather.

   Similarabsolutely, indeed

   Note

   An eager English yes from an earlier era of speech. P. G. Wodehouse's My Man Jeeves (1919) has it, and Lucy still says it in C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950). Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • P. G. Wodehouse wrote My Man Jeeves, first published in 1919. en.wikipedia.org
   • My Man Jeeves contains rather as an enthusiastic affirmative reply. gutenberg.org
   • C. S. Lewis wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, first published in 1950. en.wikipedia.org
   • Lucy says Rather! in the novel. excalibur.cheshire.sch.uk
7. 7
   noundatedcountable

   A choice or preference; the option one favors over others.

   I would rather do it by myself. I would rather, if I had my rathers, not be seen doing it.

   2000, Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

   If I had my rathers I'd make up my own band. Art Blakey on the skins, Charlie Mingus on the bass, John Coltrane on the sax, Harry Edison on the horn-

   1973, Chester B. Himes, Black on Black

   Similarpreference, choice, favorite

   Note

   A noun made out of the preference adverb, and it lives almost entirely in one phrase: if I had my rathers, meaning "if I could choose." There it is plural, after a possessive, and it sounds homely, old-fashioned and uncommon. Chester B. Himes uses it in Black on Black (1973), and Wendell Berry in Jayber Crow (2000) sets it beside the "would rather" adverb: I would rather, if I had my rathers, not be seen doing it. Outside that phrase, use it sparingly. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Rathers is plural; my is the possessive determiner. The noun itself is not possessive. en.wiktionary.org
   • Chester B. Himes uses the expression in Black on Black. en.wiktionary.org
   • Black on Black was published in 1973. nsm.buffalo.edu
   • Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow was first published in 2000. counterpointpress.com
   • The sentence continues: "I would rather, if I had my rathers, not be seen doing it." en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   adverbobsolete

   At a faster pace; more quickly or sooner.

   Similarsooner, earlier

   Note

   The original comparative meaning, plain "faster, sooner," from which the preference sense grew. The English Plutarch known as Dryden's translation, in its Life of Pompey, shows its typical shape, the rather. Pompey hurried "and the rather lest Metellus should come in for a share," meaning all the sooner, for that reason. Modern readers easily take the rather as preference. In this passage, read it as speed.

9. 9
   adjectiveobsolete

   Coming earlier in time; prior or former.

   Now no man dwelleth at the rather town of Damietta.

   1900, John Mandeville, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (version in modern spelling)

   Note

   The adjective grows from the same "sooner" root as the "more quickly" meaning: what was rather came first, so the rather town is the earlier one. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville speaks of "the rather town of Damietta," where no man now dwells. A modern reader meeting rather before a noun will hear "somewhat" instead. This sense is for reading old texts, never for writing new ones. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The adjective meaning 'earlier' shares its historical root with the adverb meaning 'more quickly'. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Travels of Sir John Mandeville contains the quoted phrase and says that nobody then inhabited the earlier Damietta. medieval.ucdavis.edu