rarely

comparative rarelier · comparative more rarely · superlative rareliest · superlative most rarely

1. Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often.First known use 16th c.

   We rarely go to the theatre.

   2 more examples

   Rarely do you ever find an eagle this far up the river.

   You have to give them credit, rarely does a character appeal equally to four-year-old children and middle-aged aunts posting tepid jokes and fake Oscar Wilde quotes on their timelines.

   2019 December 31, AJ Willingham, “All the trends we loved and hated in the 2010s”, in CNN

2. Unusually well; excellently.First known use 16th c.

   After all the schooling, I can finally write rarely now.

3. To a rare degree; very.First known use 16th c.

   I became a rarely good judge of the best in modern painting.

   1 more example

   others speake very honourably of his life and death, and in all other circumstances declare him to have beene a most excellent and rarely virtuous man.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC