infrequent
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of infrequent
First recorded in 1525–35, infrequent is from the Latin word infrequent- (stem of infrequēns ). See in- 3, frequent
Explanation
Something that's infrequent doesn't happen very often. Your family might take infrequent trips to Disney World, traveling there every two or three years. Things that are infrequent are rare or uncommon. You'd probably be glad to have infrequent run-ins with mean dogs or ugly insects, but disappointed to get infrequent phone calls from your best friend. The adjective infrequent comes from the prefix in, which here means "not," and frequent, or "often," which is rooted in the Latin word frequentem, "crowded or repeated."
Vocabulary lists containing infrequent
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury
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The Double Helix
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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.
Infrequent voters are also much more likely to be young, to be renters and to be unmarried, Berkeley found.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2023
Infrequent use of antibiotics results in the population stability of resistant bacteria like MRSA.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Infrequent floods transport vastly more pollution than occurs during normal flow.
From Washington Post • Apr. 16, 2021
Infrequent voting should not elicit a hunch that someone has moved, Justice Breyer argued; nor does the failure to send back the postcard prove anything.
From Economist • Jun. 14, 2018
Other Infrequent Defects.—This chapter will be closed with a reference to other small defects which, although infrequent, cannot be classed as minor complaints.
From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney
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.
