rarely

adverb rare·ly \ ˈrer-lē \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Examples: rarely in a Sentence

Definition of rarely

1 : not often : seldom

2 : with rare skill : excellently

3 : in an extreme or exceptional manner

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See rarely defined for kids

Examples of rarely in a Sentence

She rarely talks about her past.
Rarely do we see this kind of weather in our area.
Only rarely is surgery necessary to treat this condition.

Recent Examples of rarely from the Web

Low-key as her hair situation tends to be, J.Law rarely misses a chance to visit celebrity-favorite hairstylist and Nine Zero One co-founder Riawna Capri.

— samantha sasso, refinery29.com, "Proof That Jennifer Lawrence Is This L.A. Hair Trend's Biggest Fan," 4 June 2018
Disappearances in Mexico are rarely solved because corruption complicates investigations and encourages impunity.

— maria verza, The Christian Science Monitor, "Forensic experts search for Mexico's missing," 4 June 2018
Although this rarely happens, other police departments should note one interesting statistic: Zero people were hurt or injured during this incident.

— michael harriot, The Root, "Not All Cops: Unarmed Black Teen Not Shot and Killed by Police," 4 June 2018
But only nine species of whales and dolphins are known to occur in the area regularly, according to a 2017 report by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and large whales are very rarely seen.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time," 2 June 2018
First of all, HIV is a retrovirus, a type of virus that rarely infects humans.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "The Man Who Says Science Blew Its Best Shot at an AIDS Vaccine," 1 June 2018
Unlike today’s flipper-heavy lineup, the early HGTV decorating shows such as Decorating with Style rarely, if ever, involved whole-scale wall-destroying renovations.

— kate wagner, Curbed, "We need a new kind of HGTV," 30 May 2018
Taking mushrooms can lead to nausea, panic attacks and, rarely, paranoia and psychosis.

— barbara feder ostrov, sacbee, "'Magic' mushrooms: The next great legalization debate," 29 May 2018
Helicopters are sometimes used to carry very large specimens, but that happens rarely, only if the scientists are able to secure a lot of funding through grants.

— alessandra potenza, The Verge, "Digging mammoths in the Arctic isn’t as pretty and sci-fi as this new Lego set suggests," 21 May 2018

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