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.
Pogacar, the rarely beaten 27-year-old Slovenian, is widely regarded now as cycling's greatest of all time.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“The two worlds have rarely met, in terms of being gay and also being a direct descendant,” Marshall said.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
With their dated decor, hotel-like hallways, overhead ceiling tiles and abandoned office spaces, the Backrooms resemble the overlooked non-places of modern life – spaces many people recognize but rarely notice.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
At Sandisk, his distaste for Apple was so strong that he rarely met with the company, people familiar with his career said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Back at the Virginia plantation, there were rides, hunts, meals, and parties, but life was rarely hectic.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
