rather a + adjective – English Grammar Profiler
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 61 in the category of ADJECTIVES is defined as:
adjective phrases with ‘rather a’ + adjective, often in formal contexts
A search in iWeb for
rather a _JJ
1 RATHER A LONG 392
Further collocates 4 to the left and right:
1 TIME (NNT1 ) 187
2 WAY (NN1 ) 46

3 AGO (RA ) 24 4 TOOK (VVD ) 16
5 TERM (NN1 ) 15
2 RATHER A NEW 289

1 BUT (CCB ) 191 2 WAY (NN1 ) 25
3 BEGINNING (NN1 ) 14
3 RATHER A GOOD 264

1 THING (NN1 ) 18 2 IDEA (NN1 ) 17
3 THOUGHT (VVD ) 11
4 RATHER A LARGE 213 5 RATHER A SMALL 207 6 RATHER A DIFFERENT 180 7 RATHER A SIMPLE 166 8 RATHER A GENERAL 138 9 RATHER A NICE 104 10 RATHER A WHOLE 100 11 RATHER A BIG 99 12 RATHER A NATURAL 93 13 RATHER A SINGLE 88 14 RATHER A GREAT 83 15 RATHER A WEAK 77 16 RATHER A COMPLEX 76 17 RATHER A SPECIAL 76 18 RATHER A UNIQUE 76 19 RATHER A SLOW 71
20 RATHER A SPECIFIC 69
rather a beautiful