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unfrequently. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
unfrequently, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
unfrequently in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
unfrequently you have here. The definition of the word
unfrequently will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
unfrequently, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
unfrequent + -ly
Adverb
unfrequently (comparative more unfrequently, superlative most unfrequently)
- (now dated) Infrequently.
1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 30, in Pride and Prejudice: , volume I, London: for T Egerton, , →OCLC:She not unfrequently stopped at the Parsonage, and had a few minutes' conversation with Charlotte, but was scarcely ever prevailed upon to get out.
1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 4, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1839, →OCLC:Near to the jail, and by consequence near to Smithfield also, and the Compter, and the bustle and noise of the city; and just on that particular part of Snow Hill where omnibus horses going eastward seriously think of falling down on purpose, and where horses in hackney cabriolets going westward not unfrequently fall by accident, is the coach-yard of the Saracen's Head Inn;
1841, James Fenimore Cooper, “chapter 3”, in The Deerslayer:Hurry had all the prejudices and antipathies of a white hunter, who generally regards the Indian as a sort of natural competitor, and not unfrequently as a natural enemy.
1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 2, pp. 12-13:Kings and free states not unfrequently maintained a troupe of professional singers and dancers, ready to undertake at the shortest notice the performance of the most elaborate Ode.
Usage notes
- This was the more common form before the 20th century (vis-à-vis infrequently).
References