seldom
Americanadverb
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of seldom
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English seldum, variant of seldan; cognate with German selten, Gothic silda-
Explanation
If you seldom see your grandmother because she lives far away, you might be grateful for the opportunity to visit her over the summer. Use the adjective seldom to refer to things that don't happen very often. A near synonym is rarely. Seldom is a Middle English word, from Old English seldum, a spelling alteration of seldan "strange, rare." In Old English, the spelling seldum came about by analogy with forms such as Old English hwilum "formerly, at one time," from hwil "time, while."
Vocabulary lists containing seldom
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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The Crossover
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List 7
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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.
It wasn’t long ago that cycling had fallen into a data-obsessed wasteland in which teams rode conservatively and winners seldom took risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Compared with people who said they watched television "never" or "seldom," those who reported watching it "very often" showed broad structural differences throughout the brain.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
For decades, so much water has been taken that the river seldom meets the sea in Mexico, and its delta, once filled with lush wetlands and forests, has shriveled to stretches of dry riverbed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Properties of this caliber, with such a rich legacy and expansive acreage, seldom become available.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
When IBM stock was trading at $34 a share and had been hopping around madly for the past year, an option to buy it for $35 a share anytime soon was seldom underpriced.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
