From late Middle English seldom, alteration of earlier selden, from Old English seldan ‎(seldom), from Proto-Germanic *seldana. Cognate with Saterland Frisian säilden ‎(seldom), West Frisian selden, komselden ‎(rare, seldom), Dutch zelden, German selten, Danish sjælden, Norwegian sjelden, Swedish sällan, Faroese sjáldan, Icelandic sjaldan.



seldom ‎(comparative more seldom or seldomer, superlative most seldom or seldomest)

  1. Infrequently, rarely.
    They seldom come here now.
      People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?

Usage notesEdit


  • Compare He seldom ever plays tennis. with He almost never plays tennis.






  1. (archaic) rare; infrequent
    A suppressed and seldom anger. — Jeremy Taylor.



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