not uncommon
Happens quite often
Not uncommon is a deliberate understatement meaning fairly common or frequent.
The double negative softens what might sound too definitive: It's not uncommon for flights to be delayed hedges more than saying delays are common.
The construction appears often in formal or academic writing, sometimes criticized as needlessly indirect.
- frequentHappening many times
- typicalRepresentative of a kind
- hedgedAvoided definite commitment
- qualifiedMeeting necessary standards
- routineRegular sequence of actions
quite often · understated · regular · prevalent · ordinary · occasional · normal · usual · periodic · litotes · double negative · figure of speech · recurrent · rarely · intermittent · conventional · happening · implied
not uncommonrare
Seldom found or seen
uncommon · unusual · infrequent · exceptional · scarce
not uncommonunheard of
Without prior instance
never · rare · nonexistent · almost never
common, uncommon, commonly, commons, commonness, commonality, commoner, commonplace, knot