selten
German
Etymology
From Middle High German selten, selden, from Old High German seltan. Cognate with Dutch zelden, English seldom, Norwegian Bokmål sjelden.
Pronunciation
Adjective
selten (comparative seltener or seltner, superlative am seltensten)
- rare, infrequent
- unusual, curious
- 1924, Friedrich Bernhard Störzner, Das weiße Männchen auf dem Kirchberge, in: Reinhardtswalder Sagenbüchlein, Buchhandlung Otto Schmidt, page 11:
- Droben am Himmel funkelten die Sterne in seltener Pracht.
- Up in the sky the stars sparkled in unusual magnificence.
- Droben am Himmel funkelten die Sterne in seltener Pracht.
- 1924, Friedrich Bernhard Störzner, Das weiße Männchen auf dem Kirchberge, in: Reinhardtswalder Sagenbüchlein, Buchhandlung Otto Schmidt, page 11:
Usage notes
- The contracted comparative seltner is per se rare, but is occasionally used in attributive position: ein noch seltneres Phänomen − "an ever rarer phenomenon". This is done to avoid the three consecutive reduced syllables in selteneres etc.
Declension
Derived terms
Adverb
selten
- seldom; rarely
- Er ist selten unfreundlich.
- He’s rarely ever unfriendly.
- (chiefly informal, with adjective) unusually; extremely [from 18th c. or older]
- Der Typ war ja selten unfreundlich!
- That guy was extremely unfriendly!
- Das ist selten dämlich.
- That’s peculiarly stupid.
Usage notes
- The two senses are distinguishable by context and intonation.
Synonyms
- (extremely): See Thesaurus:sehr
See also
probability | 100 % | ~90 % | ~50 % | ~10 % | 0 % | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adverb | immer | fast immer, meistens | sehr häufig, sehr oft | öfters, des öfteren, häufig, oft | gelegentlich, manchmal, zuweilen | nicht häufig, nicht oft | selten | sehr selten, fast nie | nie |
Further reading
- “selten” in Duden online
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German 2-syllable words
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