Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - rather

predeterminer adv 1 + adj/adv quite; fairly  (I was rather surprised to see him with his ex-wife. | He was limping rather badly as he walked off the field. | It's not too big for you at all. I rather like the way it fits you. | rather a big hat/a tall man etc)  (Simon's always been rather a difficult person to get along with. | rather too big/too tall etc)  (They spoke rather too quietly to be heard at the back of the hall.) 2 would rather if you would rather do or have something, you would prefer to do it or have it  (I suppose I could lend it to them but I'd rather not. | To be honest, I'd rather have a quiet night in front of the TV. | would rather do sth than do sth)  (I'd rather die than ask him for his autograph. | would rather sb did sth)  (We'd rather you didn't smoke in our home.) 3 rather than a) more than or to a greater degree than someone or something else  (The parents should be blamed rather than the children. | I think you'd call it a lecture rather than a talk.) b) instead of someone or something else  (Rather than squeezing your own oranges, have you tried buying packs of orange juice?) 4 or rather used to correct something that you have said, or give more specific information  (You have to be sixteen for cheap tickets - or rather under sixteen.) 5 not...but rather... used to say that someone does not do something but does something else instead  (The committee does not deal with individual correspondence, but rather discusses issues in its newsletter.) 6 Rather! spoken BrE old-fashioned used to agree with someone  ( USAGE NOTE: RATHER WORD CHOICE fairly, quite, pretty, rather, kind of You use fairly or quite to describe something that is neither good nor bad The weather was fairly cold (=more than a little cold, but not extremely cold).| The movie was quite good (=more than a little good). Rather is fairly formal, and is especially used in British English. It often suggests that something is bad or unsuitable It's rather cold (=colder than I would like).| I was driving rather fast (=a little too fast). British English speakers often use rather about things they like very much Yes I painted it myself - I'm rather pleased with it. Pretty is the most usual way of saying 'fairly' or `very' in American English, and is used in British English as well. It is more common in spoken English than in writing Charlie's Restaurant is pretty good, especially if you want somewhere cheap. | You'd better wear a coat - it's pretty cold out. GRAMMAR Note that you say a rather/fairly/pretty long road but quite a long road. Of these four words, only rather can be used with comparative forms I'd prefer a rather shorter hairstyle. Rather is not used before than when you are comparing people or things Books are more interesting than TV (NOT Books are interesting rather than TV). But it is used when you are using adjectives to compare TV is relaxing rather than interesting. Rather can only be used to mean prefer in the phrase I/he would rather followed by the base form of a verb or a clause They'd rather walk (NOT they rather to walk/walking/a walk).| I'd rather not answer that question. )