seldom
[adverb]
Synonyms: rarely, hardly ever, infrequently, not often

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Antonyms: often
Contrasted words: regularly, frequently, usually
Related Idioms: once in a blue moon
Related Words: occasionally, semioccasionally, irregularly, sporadically, hardly, scarcely

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English Thesaurus: rarely, not (very) often, seldom, hardly ever/scarcely ever, very occasionally, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

sel‧dom /ˈseldəm/ adverb
[Language: Old English; Origin: seldan]
very rarely or almost never:
Karen had seldom seen him so angry.
GRAMMAR
In formal writing, seldom can be put first, followed by an auxiliary and the subject, to emphasize that something very rarely happens:
Seldom have I read an article that was so full of lies.

REGISTER
Seldom sounds rather literary. In everyday English, people usually say rarely or not very often:
■ I seldom go there. ➔ I don’t go there very often.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

rarely not often:
These geese are rarely found on inland waters.
50% of Britons say they rarely eat meat.
not (very) often often used in everyday English instead of saying rarely:
Tina’s not often late.
I don't go there very often.
It's not often that you get a chance like this.
seldom rarely. Seldom is more formal than rarely and is used especially in written English:
He seldom slept well.
They seldom went out.
hardly ever/scarcely ever almost never:
Ben’s nineteen and he’s hardly ever at home these days.
For some reason, her name was scarcely ever mentioned.
very occasionally used when you want to emphasize that something only happens a few times over a long period of time:
Very occasionally the temperature drops to below 30.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲