rarely
Americanadverb
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on rare occasions; infrequently; seldom.
I'm rarely late for appointments.
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exceptionally; in an unusual degree.
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unusually or remarkably well; excellent.
adverb
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hardly ever; seldom
I'm rarely in town these days
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to an unusual degree; exceptionally
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dialect uncommonly well; excellently
he did rarely at market yesterday
Usage
Since rarely means hardly ever , one should not say something rarely ever happens
Etymology
Origin of rarely
Explanation
If you almost never do something, you can say you do it rarely. If you walk or bike to work most days, you could say that you rarely take the bus. Something that happens rarely happens only once in a while, or seldom. You might sigh that your town's baseball team rarely wins a game, or boast that you rarely forget a person's name once you've been introduced. The word comes from the adjective rare, "not occurring often," or "unusual," from the Old French rere, "sparse," and its root, the Latin word rarus, "thinly sown, with intervals between, or full of empty spaces."
Vocabulary lists containing rarely
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 9
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Rosetta Stone's Essential Academic Vocabulary: Lesson 17
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rarely a starter for Arsenal, the 28-year-old managed just nine minutes off the bench in England's recent World Cup qualifiers with Spain and Iceland.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
"Rarely in many years have we encountered such a grave and complex landscape, where external shocks and challenges were intertwined with domestic difficulties and tough policy choices."
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
Rarely have so many seemed so eager to predict American humiliation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
Rarely used in jewelry, the dark navy of sodalite adds an unexpected layer of depth to Color Blossom’s existing luminous gemstone lineup.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
Rarely does she try to leave the house alone.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
