rather

rather
rather
A adv
1 (somewhat, quite) plutôt ; it's rather fun/expensive c'est plutôt amusant/cher ; he's rather young il est plutôt jeune ; it's rather like an apple ça ressemble un peu à une pomme ; rather easily/stupidly plutôt facilement/bêtement ; I rather like him je le trouve plutôt sympathique ; I rather think she's right j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'elle a raison ; he's rather a bore il est plutôt or assez ennuyeux ; he's rather a cruel man c'est un homme plutôt or assez cruel ; I'm in rather a hurry je suis plutôt or assez pressé ; it's rather a pity c'est assez dommage ; it's rather too/more difficult c'est un peu trop/plus difficile ;
2 (more readily, preferably) rather than sth plutôt que qch ; rather than do plutôt que de faire ; I would ou had rather do je préférerais faire (than do que faire) ; I would ou had much rather do je préférerais de loin faire ; would you rather wait? préférez-vous attendre? ; he'd die rather than admit it il préférerait mourir plutôt que de l'avouer ; I'd rather die! plutôt mourir! ; I'd rather not j'aimerais mieux pas ; I'd rather not say je préférerais or j'aimerais mieux ne pas dire ; I'd rather you did/didn't je préférerais or j'aimerais mieux que tu fasses/ne fasses pas ;
3 (more exactly) plutôt ; a tree, or rather a bush un arbre, ou plutôt un buisson ; practical rather than decorative pratique plutôt que décoratif ; ‘did it improve?’-‘no, rather it got worse’ ‘ça s'est amélioré?’-‘non, ça a plutôt empiré’.
B excl† GB et comment!

Big English-French dictionary. 2003.

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