A fractional-R synthesizer having a divider with rational increments and configurable in rational steps able to generate a plurality of frequencies in rational increments from a reference frequency. A voltage-controlled oscillator frequency (f.sub.VCO) is related to the reference frequency (f.sub.REF) by: f.sub.REF=f.sub.VCO/R.sub.AVG, where R.sub.AVG is the average value of the rational divide value "R" over a large number of reference cycles.