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say it: RATH-ur
rather is an adverb meaning "on the contrary". It is pronounced /ˈɹæðɚ/ — RATH-ur. It carries 4 recorded senses.
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”
more readily or willingly
“clean it well, preferably with warm water”
“I'd rather be in Philadelphia”
“I'd sooner die than give up”
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for rather come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.