rather than

conjunction

And not.

“I'd prefer a dog rather than a cat.”

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Meanings

conjunction
  1. And not.
  2. Used to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred.

    It was my wife, rather than I, who decided to leave.

    5 more examples

    I'd like to go home early rather than risk(ing) the roads later.

    I prefer making my kids' toys myself rather than buying them.

    It is never better to let kids have their way whenever they wish rather than standing up for one's parental authority.

    Cheap mid-week return tickets were reintroduced by British Railways on May 7, to encourage holiday travel during the week rather than at weekends.

    1957 June 28, “Notes and News: Cheap Mid-Week Tickets Reintroduced”, in Railway Magazine, page 433

    According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

    2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55
preposition
  1. Instead of; in preference to.

    I'd prefer a dog rather than a cat.

Translations

Arabic بَدَلًا مِن, أَكْثَر مِن
  • بَدَلًا مِن (badalan min)to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • أَكْثَر مِن (ʔakṯar min)instead of, in preference to
  • عَنّ (ʕann)instead of, in preference to
Bulgarian вместо, вместо
  • вместо (vmesto)to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • вместо (vmesto)instead of, in preference to
Chinese Mandarin 毋寧 /毋宁, 與其 /与其
  • 毋寧 /毋宁 (wúnìng)to indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • 與其 /与其 (yǔqí)instead of, in preference to
Czech raději než, raději než
  • raději nežto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • raději nežinstead of, in preference to
  • namístoinstead of, in preference to
Dutch in plaats van
  • in plaats vaninstead of, in preference to
Finnish eikä, mieluummin kuin
  • eikäand not
  • mieluummin kuinto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • kuininstead of, in preference to
French plutôt que, au lieu de
  • plutôt queto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • au lieu deinstead of, in preference to
  • à la place deinstead of, in preference to
  • plus queinstead of, in preference to
  • plutôt queinstead of, in preference to
German statt, statt
  • stattto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • stattinstead of, in preference to
Irish seachas
  • seachasinstead of, in preference to
Italian anziché, invece che
  • anzichéto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • invece cheto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • piuttosto cheto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • anzichéinstead of, in preference to
Latin potius quam
  • potius quamto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
Norwegian heller, heller enn
  • hellerto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • heller enninstead of, in preference to
Polish a nie, a nie
  • a nieand not
  • a nieto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • a nieinstead of, in preference to
  • zamiastinstead of, in preference to
  • raczej niżinstead of, in preference to
  • bardziej niżinstead of, in preference to
Portuguese a
  • ainstead of, in preference to
Scottish Gaelic seach, seach
  • seachto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • seachinstead of, in preference to
Slovak radšej než
  • radšej nežto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
Spanish y no, antes que
  • y noand not
  • antes queto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • en vez deto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • en lugar deto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • en vez deinstead of, in preference to
  • en lugar deinstead of, in preference to
Tagalog imbes
  • imbesinstead of, in preference to
Ukrainian за́мість то́го
  • за́мість то́го (zámistʹ tóho)instead of, in preference to
Vietnamese chứ không phải, hơn là
  • chứ không phảiand not
  • hơn làto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • thay vìto indicate that the following alternative is less preferred
  • hơn làinstead of, in preference to
  • thay vìinstead of, in preference to
Cite this entry
APA

rather than. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rather%20than

MLA

“rather than.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rather%20than. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rather than,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rather%20than.

Source: rather than on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.