infrequent

adjective

in·fre·quent | \ (ˌ)in-ˈfrē-kwənt

Definition of infrequent

1 : seldom happening or occurring : rare

2 : placed or occurring at wide intervals in space or time a slope dotted with infrequent pines infrequent visits

Other Words from infrequent Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about infrequent

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Synonyms & Antonyms for infrequent

Synonyms

isolated, occasional, odd, rare, sporadic

Antonyms

frequent

Choose the Right Synonym for infrequent

infrequent, uncommon, scarce, rare, sporadic mean not common or abundant. infrequent implies occurrence at wide intervals in space or time. infrequent family visits uncommon suggests a frequency below normal expectation. smallpox is now uncommon in many countries scarce implies falling short of a standard or required abundance. jobs were scarce during the Depression rare suggests extreme scarcity or infrequency and often implies consequent high value. rare first editions sporadic implies occurrence in scattered instances or isolated outbursts. sporadic cases of influenza

Examples of infrequent in a Sentence

We made infrequent stops along the way. a shut-in who made infrequent trips to the store

Recent Examples on the Web

Of 373 respondents, 176 reported ever using cannabis, with about half of them reporting frequent use (anywhere from once a week to several times a day) and half of them reporting infrequent use (anywhere from once a year to a few times a year). — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, "How Does Cannabis Actually Affect Sex?," 25 Mar. 2019 Optimism bias is also more likely to play a role in decision-making around infrequent events, such as a hurricane. — Aditi Shrikant, Vox, "Why some people buy Pop-Tarts and liquor before a hurricane — and some people don’t prepare at all.," 12 Sep. 2018 To resolve this, the plaintiffs proposed reforms, including ending the use of electronic voting machines without a paper trail and stopping purges of infrequent voters. — P.r. Lockhart, Vox, "Republican Brad Raffensperger wins Georgia secretary of state runoff," 5 Dec. 2018 The researchers have concerns about a similar situation in Europe, where measles may also have been gone past infrequent outbreaks and become established again. — Cathleen O'grady, Ars Technica, "The fight against measles has taken a turn for the worse," 30 Nov. 2018 Banks set the schedule of the observation periods, which can be as frequent as monthly or as infrequent as annually. — Ben Eisen, WSJ, "New Way to Play FANG Stocks Falls Short for Some Investors," 11 Sep. 2018 His ruling claims that judges are only allowed to close cases when federal regulations explicitly mandate it, which is very infrequent. — Dara Lind, Vox, "Jeff Sessions just ruled that the government should reopen 350,000 closed deportation cases," 21 May 2018 While competitors like Apple, Dell, and HP tend to update their flagship notebook lines on an annual basis, Microsoft has been a bit more infrequent. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft announces October 2 event: New Surface devices inbound?," 7 Sep. 2018 The court’s ruling in the Gelfman case said the firm engaged in only infrequent and unprofitable bitcoin trading while falsely reporting gains to his customers. — Gabriel T. Rubin, WSJ, "Bitcoin Ponzi Schemer Must Pay $2.5 Million, Federal Court Rules," 18 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'infrequent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.