Seldom
//ˈsɛldəm// adj, adv
adj, adv ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Rare; infrequent. archaic
"a suppressed and seldom anger"
Adverb
- 1 Infrequently, rarely.
"They seldom come here now."
Adverb
- 1 not often wordnet
Example
More examples"Although her house is nearby, I seldom see her."
Etymology
From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden by analogy with adverbial datives such as whilom, from Old English seldan (“seldom”), from Proto-West Germanic *seldanā, from Proto-Germanic *seldanē. Cognate with Saterland Frisian säilden (“seldom”), West Frisian selden, komselden (“rare, seldom”), Dutch zelden, German selten, Danish sjælden, Norwegian sjelden, Swedish sällan, Faroese sjáldan, Icelandic sjaldan. More at seld and selly.
Related phrases
More for "seldom"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.