almost never
Very seldom indeed
Almost never means very rarely—so infrequently that occurrences barely register: She almost never calls anymore.
The phrase sits between "rarely" and "never," suggesting something technically possible but practically absent.
It often carries emotional weight, implying disappointment or emphasis: He almost never takes a day off.
- infrequentlyNot happening often
- rarelyNot often occurring
- unlikelyNot apt to happen
- seldomOn few occasions
- once in a blue moonExtremely infrequently
once in a while · sporadically · scarcely · uncommonly · hardly ever · intermittently · hardly · at no time · not in a million years · few and far between · rare as hen's teeth · occasionally · irregularly · improbable · slim to none · surprising · unexpected · doubtful
- frequency wordsalways, often, sometimes, usually, rarely
- infrequencyrarely, seldom, infrequent, infrequently, occasionally
frequency
almost neveralmost always
Very frequently, not quite universally
always · constantly · perpetually · invariably · all the time