1. Home
2. Idioms
3. rarely

rarely

---

---

rarely ever

Nearly never; very infrequently; only on a few or rare occasions. We used to go visit Grandma and Grandpa every year when I was a kid, but nowadays, I rarely ever see them. I rarely ever get the chance to go out to the movies alone since having kids.

See also: ever, rarely

hardly ever

Also, rarely ever, scarcely ever. Very seldom, almost never, as in This kind of thief is hardly ever caught, or He rarely ever brings up his wartime experiences. The ever in these expressions, first recorded in 1694, serves as an intensifier.

See also: ever, hardly