scarcely ever
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Like Mr. McElwee, the experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer scarcely ever seemed to put the camera down.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
With fans ranging from conservative former California Gov. Pete Wilson to Oscar-winning “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins, “Boyz” struck a cultural nerve by depicting a teen world that audiences had scarcely ever seen onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2025
You also know that she rarely smiles and scarcely ever says please or thank you.
From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2023
“I still like holding a print newspaper in my hand. I’m 65 years old. Most people under 50, certainly under 40, have scarcely ever held a newspaper in their hands.”
From Seattle Times • Feb. 7, 2023
Florence had scarcely ever spoken to her before she arrived at this merciful unpopularity; but Elizabeth had noticed Florence.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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.
