rare·ly
(râr
l
)
KEY
ADVERB:
- Not often; infrequently:
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple"
(Oscar Wilde).
- In an unusual degree; exceptionally.
- With uncommon excellence.
Usage Note:
Strictly speaking, the use of
ever after
rarely and
seldom is redundant;
She rarely ever watches television
adds nothing to
She rarely watches television.
In an earlier survey a large majority of the Usage Panel found this construction unacceptable in formal writing. But
ever has been used as an intensive with
rarely for several hundred years, and the construction is common in informal contexts. By contrast, the constructions
rarely (or
seldom)
if ever and
rarely (or
seldom)
or never are perfectly acceptable:
She rarely if ever watches television. She rarely or never watches television.
See Usage Notes at
hardly,
redundancy.
