Dictionary

rarely en · ADV

Pronunciation

• râr'li
• /ɹɛli/ (Multicultural-London-English)
• (US) audio
• /ˈɹɛəɹli/ (US)
• /ˈɹɛːli/ (UK)
• /ɹeə.liː/
• /ɹeəɹ(ᵊ)liː/ to distinguish from really

Etymology

Etymology tree English rare Middle English -ly English -ly English rarely From rare + -ly.

Meanings

1. Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often.
   • You have to give them credit, rarely does a character appeal equally to four-year-old children and middle-aged aunts posting tepid jokes and fake Oscar Wilde quotes on their timelines. 2019 December 31, AJ Willingham, “All the trends we loved and hated in the 2010s”, in CNN:
   • Rarely do you ever find an eagle this far up the river.
   • We rarely go to the theatre.
2. Unusually well; excellently.
   • After all the schooling, I can finally write rarely now.
3. To a rare degree; very.
   • others speake very honourably of his life and death, and in all other circumstances declare him to have beene a most excellent and rarely virtuous man. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
   • I became a rarely good judge of the best in modern painting.

Forms

Antonyms

often · usually · frequently

Coordinates

occasionally

Hyponyms

once in a purple moon · very rarely · almost never · scarcely ever · extremely rarely · hardly ever · seldom if ever · once in a blue moon

Relateds

frequency · rarity · rareness · Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 137. Infrequency

Synonyms

scarcely · seldom · once in a while · rarely · hardly · uncommonly · unoften · barely · seldomly · infrequently · sporadically

Translations (66)

hu ritkán (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk напро́чуд (to a rare degree) · lv reti (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk рі́дко (not occurring at a regular interval) · ru изредка (not occurring at a regular interval) · wa rålmint (not occurring at a regular interval) · ro rareori (not occurring at a regular interval) · it raramente (not occurring at a regular interval) · pl rzadko (not occurring at a regular interval) · vo plödakösömiko (not occurring at a regular interval) · is sjaldan (not occurring at a regular interval) · ca rarament (not occurring at a regular interval) · io rare (not occurring at a regular interval) · fr rarement (not occurring at a regular interval) · ar قَلِيلًا (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk неча́сто (not occurring at a regular interval) · sh rijetko (not occurring at a regular interval) · cs zřídka (not occurring at a regular interval) · oj wiikaa (not occurring at a regular interval) · sv ovanligen (not occurring at a regular interval) · mk ретко (not occurring at a regular interval) · bg изключително (to a rare degree) · uk і́нколи (not occurring at a regular interval) · uz kamdan-kam (not occurring at a regular interval) · izh harvaa (not occurring at a regular interval) · aeb قْلِيلْ (not occurring at a regular interval) · lt retai (not occurring at a regular interval) · bg забележително (unusually well) · fo sjáldan (not occurring at a regular interval) · ru исключи́тельно (to a rare degree) · pt raramente (not occurring at a regular interval) · ru замеча́тельно (unusually well) · vo selediko (not occurring at a regular interval) · ar قَلَّمَا (not occurring at a regular interval) · es raramente (not occurring at a regular interval) · grc σπανίως (not occurring at a regular interval) · ru на ре́дкость (to a rare degree) · ru нечасто (not occurring at a regular interval) · de selten (not occurring at a regular interval) · ru ре́дко (not occurring at a regular interval) · ro rar (not occurring at a regular interval) · da sjældent (not occurring at a regular interval) · ary قليل (not occurring at a regular interval) · nn sjeldan (not occurring at a regular interval) · la rārē (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk ви́ключно (to a rare degree) · es rara vez (not occurring at a regular interval) · sl rédko (not occurring at a regular interval) · cmn 很少 (not occurring at a regular interval) · nl zelden (not occurring at a regular interval) · hy հազվադեպ (not occurring at a regular interval) · ja 滅多に…ない (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk винятко́во (to a rare degree) · ar نَادِرًا (not occurring at a regular interval) · cmn 罕有地 (not occurring at a regular interval) · sv sällan (not occurring at a regular interval) · aeb رَارْ (not occurring at a regular interval) · nb sjelden (not occurring at a regular interval) · bg рядко (not occurring at a regular interval) · eo malofte (not occurring at a regular interval) · fi harvoin (not occurring at a regular interval) · ja 稀に (not occurring at a regular interval) · izh harvoin (not occurring at a regular interval) · az gec-gec (not occurring at a regular interval) · uk зрі́дка (not occurring at a regular interval) · ar قَلِيلًا مَا (not occurring at a regular interval)