: rare, infrequent
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
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 13 May 2026
Peace proposals are usually negotiated behind closed doors; threats are seldom made publicly.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
But tax forms are seldom easy, and this one is new.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 10 May 2026
Several of the paintings have seldom, if ever, been on display to the public, as Frankenthaler kept many of her favorites for herself at home or in storage, even up until her death in 2011, at age 83.
—Grace Edquist, Vogue, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for seldom
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Adverb
Nagi, as Fukada imagines it, is empty but filled with voices — voices that are easily heard from every house in the area but seldom backed up by any kind of direct address.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 13 May 2026
Peace proposals are usually negotiated behind closed doors; threats are seldom made publicly.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
But tax forms are seldom easy, and this one is new.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 10 May 2026
Several of the paintings have seldom, if ever, been on display to the public, as Frankenthaler kept many of her favorites for herself at home or in storage, even up until her death in 2011, at age 83.
—Grace Edquist, Vogue, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for seldom
Cite this Entry
“Seldom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seldom. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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