seldom
Adverb
- not often
Adv
- Infrequently, rarely.
Adj
- Rare; infrequent.
Adjective
- Not often; rarely occurring or happening.
Examples
- It is SELDOM that one finds a seven-letter word perfectly placed for maximum points.
- They seldom come here now.
Origin / Etymology
From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden, 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.
Synonyms
rarely, barely, dearthy, few and far between, geason, hardly, in short supply, infrequent, infrequently, rare, raresome, scant, scantling, scarce, scarcely, selcouth, seld, seldom, seldomly, selly, superrare, uncommon, uncommonly, unfrequent, unoften
Antonyms
often, forever, frequently, never, occasionally, once, rarely
Scrabble Score: 9
seldom: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordseldom: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
seldom: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary