rarely/seldom ever
idiom
: almost never : rarely
We seldom ever dine out these days.
She rarely ever drinks wine.
Note: Some people regard rarely ever and seldom ever as incorrect, but these phrases are common in speech and in informal writing.
Examples of rarely/seldom ever in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Teams in need — Just about every team drafts pass rushers early because teams rarely ever have enough.
—
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2025
That type of historic season has Jeanty as a potential top-five pick despite running backs rarely ever going to that high in the draft.
—Dj Siddiqi, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Shot making comes and goes, although rarely ever that extreme, but the defense and hustle, which has been sturdy and consistent as any team in basketball as of late, was nowhere to be found for large chunks of the game.
—James L. Edwards Iii, The Athletic, 20 Mar. 2025
Incidents of computer hacking and resultant data breaches regularly make the national and local news as well as the financial cost to mitigate them, but the theft of sensitive corporate documents using say a copier or printer is rarely ever heard of yet likely routinely occurs.
—IEEE Spectrum, 5 Dec. 2011
See All Example Sentences for rarely/seldom ever
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2025
That type of historic season has Jeanty as a potential top-five pick despite running backs rarely ever going to that high in the draft.
—Dj Siddiqi, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Shot making comes and goes, although rarely ever that extreme, but the defense and hustle, which has been sturdy and consistent as any team in basketball as of late, was nowhere to be found for large chunks of the game.
—James L. Edwards Iii, The Athletic, 20 Mar. 2025
Incidents of computer hacking and resultant data breaches regularly make the national and local news as well as the financial cost to mitigate them, but the theft of sensitive corporate documents using say a copier or printer is rarely ever heard of yet likely routinely occurs.
—IEEE Spectrum, 5 Dec. 2011
See All Example Sentences for rarely/seldom ever
Cite this Entry
“Rarely/seldom ever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarely%2Fseldom%20ever. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share