: 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 WebCommon Sense Media, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
For decades, so much water has been diverted that the river has seldom met the sea and its once-vast wetlands in the river’s delta have dried up.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for seldom 
Adverb
Characters hold colorful cocktails but seldom actually drink them (no one acts drunk).
—Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
For decades, so much water has been diverted that the river has seldom met the sea and its once-vast wetlands in the river’s delta have dried up.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for seldom
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seldom.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Seldom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seldom. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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