Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. Not often; infrequently: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple” ( Oscar Wilde).
- adv. In an unusual degree; exceptionally.
- adv. With uncommon excellence.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Seldom; not often: as, things rarely seen.
- Finely, excellently; remarkably well; with a rare excellence.
- In excellent health: in quasi-adjective use. Compare purely in like use.
- So as to be underdone or only partially cooked: said of meats: as, a roast of beef rarely cooked.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. In a rare manner or degree; seldom; not often.
- adv. Finely; excellently; with rare skill. See 3d Rare, 2.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. not often
Etymologies
- From rare + -ly. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are unequivocal in their condemnation of homosexual sex, of fornication a term rarely used anymore, of adultery.”
“Discerning palate" is a term rarely used in describing our teenager's dining preferences, unless by discerning one means whether the boy decided to put cheese or ketchup on something or not.”
“He described himself as a moderate conservative, a term rarely heard at a convention that draws crowds of GOP officials, radio personalities, advocacy groups and political vendors.”
“It was exciting, and “cure” was a word rarely heard back then in medical oncology.”
Simon & Schuster: Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Cancer Book
“I don't know what it is about energy and our use of it that inspires so many euphemisms, but "peak oil" is a term rarely used in the mainstream, corporate media.”
The Huffington Post: Kelpie Wilson: Preface to a Prelude to Peak Oil
“EA clarifies: a single copy of a title rarely gets placed face-out because it sits too far back on the shelf and is shadowed.”
“While the Times may have published a reasonable number, its headline read "several," a term rarely applied to 158.”
“Luxury is a term rarely associated with the Western Bulldogs, too often the AFL's battlers.”
“Modesty is a term rarely associated with luxury loving billionaires.”
“Sydney Swans find new set of wings PULSATING is a term rarely used to describe Sydney.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rarely’.
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zzyyxx's Words
plethora, drout, functional, rye, wring, doubt, cognative, weird, gnaw, surcease, rend, languish and 438 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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MEC3 Lesson 142
launch, rudeness, hostility, incivility, nastiness, unkindness, occur, crusade, well-meaning, fail, disguise, dish up and 18 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rarely.
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