From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrarefiedrar‧e‧fied /ˈreərɪfaɪd $ ˈrer-/ adjective [usually before noun] 1 RAREa rarefied place, organization, or type of activity is only available to or understood by a small group of people – used to show disapproval the rarefied atmosphere of academia2 DNHErarefied air is the air in high places, which has less oxygen than usual
Examples from the Corpus
rarefied• Nor are the problems confined to the rarefied atmosphere of corporate boardrooms.• Upward-moving atmospheric waves could greatly heat a rarefied atmosphere.• Increasingly, retailers and manufacturers are questioning whether Gore can continue to thrive at such rarefied levels.• the rarefied New York literary world• The program helped talented people develop the rarefied skills of a Disney animator, and it became a fixture of the studio.• Even in the rarefied world of foreign correspondents, Simon is a standout. 