: rare, infrequent
Synonyms
Examples of seldom in a Sentence
Adverb
Employers also say that foreign-born workers tend to work harder, be more reliable, and complain less than the natives they can hire at the same wage. This is not surprising. Unskilled immigrants have seldom finished secondary school, but they have overcome all kinds of obstacles both to get here and to stay here.
—
Christopher Jencks, New York Review of Books, 27 Sept. 2007
"The pervasive theme is rebellion." Laurel Thatcher Ulrich begins her new book, "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History," struggling to explain—understand—the appeal of an aside she made in the spring 1976 issue of an academic journal, a comment that has become a popular slogan printed on T-shirts and coffee mugs and bumper stickers, usually without her permission and often without attribution.
—Kathryn Harrison, New York Times Book Review, 30 Sept. 2007
Kangaroo rats belong to a North American family of rodents well known for living in arid habitats, where they forage almost exclusively for seeds. They seldom have access to drinking water, but instead get most of their moisture from digesting the seeds.
—Michael A. Mares, Natural History, November 2003
We seldom go to the movies.
This type of turtle seldom grows over four inches in length.
Christopher Jencks, New York Review of Books, 27 Sept. 2007
"The pervasive theme is rebellion." Laurel Thatcher Ulrich begins her new book, "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History," struggling to explain—understand—the appeal of an aside she made in the spring 1976 issue of an academic journal, a comment that has become a popular slogan printed on T-shirts and coffee mugs and bumper stickers, usually without her permission and often without attribution.
—Kathryn Harrison, New York Times Book Review, 30 Sept. 2007
Kangaroo rats belong to a North American family of rodents well known for living in arid habitats, where they forage almost exclusively for seeds. They seldom have access to drinking water, but instead get most of their moisture from digesting the seeds.
—Michael A. Mares, Natural History, November 2003
We seldom go to the movies.
This type of turtle seldom grows over four inches in length.
Recent Examples on the Web
Brandon Girod, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
Its citizens have voiced their distrust of the police department over the years on a number of fronts, noting that officers — many of them white and Hispanic — seldom leave their patrol cars except to make an arrest.
—Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 23 Jan. 2025
Bilal Y. Saab, Foreign Affairs, 26 Jan. 2016
In the beauty world, there are seldom topics that are as big a conversation piece as Taylor Swift’s favorite lipstick.
—Michelle Lee, People.com, 1 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for seldom 
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Adverb
Rare winter storm:Southern system turns deadly; dig-out begins Rare black ice in New Orleans
State and local officials were struggling to clear roadways left unnavigable by the storm, sometimes dealing with a shortage of plows in states seldom requiring them.
—Brandon Girod, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
Its citizens have voiced their distrust of the police department over the years on a number of fronts, noting that officers — many of them white and Hispanic — seldom leave their patrol cars except to make an arrest.
—Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
This all sounds promising for Geagea, except that his strategy will have to contend with the age-old Lebanese dictum that national political appointments in Lebanon are seldom, if ever, purely a domestic matter.
—Bilal Y. Saab, Foreign Affairs, 26 Jan. 2016
In the beauty world, there are seldom topics that are as big a conversation piece as Taylor Swift’s favorite lipstick.
—Michelle Lee, People.com, 1 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for seldom
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Cite this Entry
“Seldom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seldom. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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