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.