SELDOM


Meaning of SELDOM in English

sel ‧ dom /ˈseldəm/ BrE AmE 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.

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THESAURUS

▪ rarely not often:

These geese are rarely found on inland waters.

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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.

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I don't go there very often.

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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.

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They seldom went out.

▪ hardly ever/scarcely ever almost never:

Ben’s nineteen and he’s hardly ever at home these days.

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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.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.