SELDOM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does seldom mean? 

• SELDOM (adverb)
  The adverb SELDOM has 1 sense:

1. not often

  Familiarity information: SELDOM used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SELDOM (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not often

Synonyms:

rarely; seldom

Context example:

we rarely met

 Context examples 

He very seldom said anything; but would sit by the fire in much the same attitude as he sat in his cart, and stare heavily at Peggotty, who was opposite.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This condition seldom becomes invasive cancer.

(Breast carcinoma in situ, NCI Dictionary)

This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire; it was silent, because remote from the nursery and kitchen; solemn, because it was known to be so seldom entered.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Yes, my father can seldom be prevailed on to give the waters what I think a fair trial.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I have seldom felt so happy as when I got your wire asking me to meet you at Harwich with the car.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She had not foreseen anything of this, and her feelings could seldom withstand the melancholy influence of the word “last.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

On the other hand, he had never seen this brother since childhood, and the reports which had come to his ears concerning him were seldom to his advantage.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When he ventured to run abreast of the older wolf (which was seldom), a snarl and a snap sent him back even with the shoulder again.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It seldom is, at first, and thirty seems the end of all things to five-and-twenty.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It seldom becomes invasive; however there is an increased risk of infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma.

(Lobular Breast Carcinoma In Situ, NCI Thesaurus)