Rarely

Rarely is an adverb of frequency meaning “not often; infrequently.” It describes events or actions that occur at a low rate and often carries a slightly formal or cautious tone. It sits opposite to often or frequently and is commonly used to emphasize scarcity rather than impossibility.

Placement and usage: Rarely typically appears before the main verb: He rarely drinks alcohol. When an auxiliary is present, it follows the auxiliary: She has rarely visited Asia. In formal writing, it may lead a sentence with subject–verb inversion: Rarely have I seen such care. It can also appear with "ever" for stronger emphasis: Rarely, if ever, do they agree. In everyday speech, it is closely interchangeable with seldom or infrequently, though each word can carry subtle nuances in tone and strength.

Nuance and alternatives: Rarely denotes low frequency and can sound more formal than “seldom.” “Hardly ever” is a stronger, more emphatic synonym. Context and register influence choice: rare in casual writing, and more common in formal narration, analysis, or reporting.

Origin: Rarely is formed from the adjective rare by the adverbial suffix -ly. The adjective rare itself traces to older Germanic roots meaning thin or infrequent, with evolution through Middle and Old English forms.

In sum, rarely conveys that something happens at a low frequency, adjusts tone toward formality, and follows flexible syntactic patterns to fit different sentence positions.