Seldom vs Ever - What's the difference?
seldom | ever |
Infrequently, rarely.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.}}
*{{quote-news, year=2013, date=April 9, author=Andrei Lankov, title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff., work=New York Times
, passage=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?}}
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (obsolete) rare; infrequent
Always.
:
*
*:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever -renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
At any time.
:
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=3
, passage=Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.}}
In any way.
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(lb)
:
(epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.
* 1965 , Reuben Hill, The family and population control: a Puerto Rican experiment in social change
As adverbs the difference between seldom and ever
is that seldom is infrequently, rarely while ever is always.As adjectives the difference between seldom and ever
is that seldom is (obsolete) rare; infrequent while ever is (epidemiology) occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.seldom
English
Adverb
(en adverb)citation
End of the peer show, passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
Usage notes
It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare He seldom ever plays tennis.'' with ''He almost never plays tennis.Synonyms
* barely * hardly * rarely * scarcely * infrequentlyAntonyms
* often * frequentlyAdjective
(en adjective)- A suppressed and seldom anger. — Jeremy Taylor.
Anagrams
* English frequency adverbsever
English
(wikipedia ever)Adverb
(-)Derived terms
(terms derived from ever) * e’er * everchanging * everlasting * everloving * evermind * ever-present * ever since * ever smoker * ever so * every * forever, for ever, for ever more * for ever and ever, forever and ever * happily ever after * however * never * never ever * whatever * whatsoever * whenever * whichever * whoeverAdjective
(-)- This family empathy measure is highly related to ever use of birth control but not to any measure of continuous use.