What's "rather" mean?

Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Here, "rather" is an adverb that means to a certain or significant degree. It's similar to "quite" and softer than "really." It can also be used to indicate a preference on a matter. Ex: I'd rather go to sleep late than wake up early. Ex: Tim is rather rude. Don't you agree? = Tim is quite rude. Don't you agree?