Using "seldomly"

Question

I'm not a native English speaker.

If at all possible I try to use spell checkers while writing anything on the web hence using one in Firefox as well. Whenever I try to write "seldomly" it highlights it as incorrect.

Is it really?

Example:

This particular word is seldomly used.

Just for perspective, I am a native speaker of English, and I can remember the incident where I first came across the word 'seldom' (I was about 11 years old reading some Charlie Brown comic). I think that was the last time, too (maybe once in Jane Austen or some translation of Dostoyevsky). English speakers (at least AmE) hardly ever use that word. — Mitch, Apr 05 '11 at 02:19
I seldom use "seldomly". (And when I do, it's quite seldom, I assure you.) — Mateen Ulhaq, Apr 05 '11 at 06:08
"Seldom" is a perfectly normal part of my (BrE) vocabulary. "Seldomly" is not. — Colin Fine, Apr 05 '11 at 09:43
@Colin: I hope what I said about 'hardly ever' is not taken as a value judgement. I'm only reporting what I think (as a native AmE speaker) is the usage pattern for the particular vocabulary item, in order to tell someone (possibly a foreign language learner of English) what is appropriate (that is, if they use 'seldom' in the US (or at least in my idiolect), it'll sound weird (even in the highest, educated registers)). Your response is probably in the same vein, (that it's perfectly fine I just want to make it clear what my perspective is just in case. — Mitch, Apr 05 '11 at 14:14
@Mitch: I suppose it could be more of a British English vocabulary word. I'm sure I've heard it few times when I was in Britain. — Robert Koritnik, Apr 06 '11 at 08:13
I am a native speaker of English, born and lived in America. I think "seldom" is the proper word, and "seldomly" sounds weird. — GEdgar, May 16 '13 at 01:24
I'm a native British English speaker and initially the OP's example didn't sound odd to me, but I agree that seldom in his example would have sounded equally acceptable. One could use rarely instead of seldomly if thought preferable. — TrevorD, May 16 '13 at 11:44
I can't imagine now what people think of me because "seldom" and sometimes even "seldomly" are in my vocabulary. lol! — Kristina Lopez, Feb 14 '14 at 16:40
@Mitch: To be clear, although I do agree with the general consensus on the correct usage of the word seldomly within this discussion, I find it a little strange that you claim that the use of seldom would sound weird "even in the highest, educated registers". I am in academia (split time between two prestigious universities in North America) and would not hesitate to use seldom. I am not the kind of person who feels the need to throw around 18th century vocab and eloquent sentence structure to describe the aroma of the leftovers in the lunch-room microwave in order to sound educated. — , Feb 12 '14 at 11:15

score 41 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 04 '11 at 22:09

41

Contrary to your (very reasonable) gut feeling, seldom is an adverb, even though it doesn't end in -ly.

answered Apr 04 '11 at 22:09

msanford

1,199
1
12
17

21

And thus, that particular word is seldom used. – thursdaysgeek Apr 04 '11 at 22:12
1

Wow. It surely sounds strange... is seldom used. ;) But thanks for clearing this up for me. I guess I'll have to obey to those underlined corrections... ;) – Robert Koritnik Apr 04 '11 at 22:20

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 22:24

11

Teachers will tell you to use seldom, which is an adverb already so doesn't need -ly. But Google Books will tell you people have been using seldomly since the eighteenth century and still use it today — though considerably less than seldom.

So the best advice (in my opinion) is to use seldom. But seldomly is not wrong.

answered Apr 04 '11 at 22:24

msh210

3,955

7

Depends on your definition of "wrong"... but I get your point. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Apr 04 '11 at 22:27
+1: Thanks for that. I knew I've seen -ly being used before (and not by me). This explains lots. – Robert Koritnik Apr 04 '11 at 22:29
1

As I understood this answer it's probably grammatically wrong but not colloquially wrong... – Robert Koritnik Apr 04 '11 at 22:32
Yes, wrong in terms of 'proper' English (whatever that is these days) but probably acceptable by most. Still, more and more mistakes are becoming 'acceptable so it is definitely best avoided. Go with 'seldom'. – Karl Apr 05 '11 at 03:14

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 14 '14 at 19:41

2

As already pointed out, the word "seldom" is mainly an adverb, even though it can be used as an adjective in some cases. And although "seldom" may be seldom in every day language, "seldomly" occurs even more seldom.

This stands in contrast to the word "often", which in relation to "seldom" is used very often.

Note that both "seldom" and "often" are adverbs, but that none of them ends in "-ly" which adverbs almost always do otherwise.

enter image description here

edited Feb 14 '14 at 19:41

Mari-Lou A

91,183

answered Dec 18 '13 at 18:16

HelloGoodbye

409

I hate gifs. They're fun for about 0.50 seconds then they are dull, irritating and eventually nauseating. Is there a way to convert a gif in jpg format? – Mari-Lou A Feb 13 '14 at 09:39
@Mari-Lou A: Sure there is. You can open the image in MS Paint and resave it as a jpg image, or as a png. – HelloGoodbye Feb 13 '14 at 12:46
1

I think the comment comparing to often is telling. I've never been tempted to write oftenly. (However, I ended up on this page having been struck with doubts after typing seldomly into a document) – Nov 06 '14 at 16:10
@user96913 thanks. That's how I will remember to never use seldomly again: seldom is the antonym of often – Adam.at.Epsilon Apr 18 '18 at 07:13

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 31 '14 at 17:46

In all honesty,the word 'seldomly' is not acceptable in contemporary British English.Attaching the suffix -ly to 'seldom' to create an adverb,in my scholarly opinion,constitutes a redundancy of the highest order,simply because 'seldom' is already an adverb.

Using "seldomly"

4 Answers4

Linked