Rarely vs. seldom: what’s the difference?
The short answer
While both words are interchangeable in many contexts, rarely is more commonly used in modern English than seldom, which can sometimes have a slightly more formal or old-fashioned connotation.
What they have in common
Both rarely and seldom are adverbs that describe something that happens infrequently or not very often.
Examples
rarely
- She rarely goes to the gym these days.
- I rarely eat fast food.
- He rarely makes mistakes in his calculations.
seldom
- We seldom see him since he moved to the city.
- She seldom wears that dress.
- He seldom visits his relatives in the countryside.
Which one is more common?
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