different between unfrequently vs infrequently

English

Etymology

unfrequent +? -ly

Adverb

unfrequently (comparative more unfrequently, superlative most unfrequently)

1. (now dated) Infrequently.
   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 30:

     She not unfrequently stopped at the Parsonage, and had a few minutes' conversation with Charlotte, but was scarcely ever prevailed upon to get out.

   • 1838-1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, chapter 4:

     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, The Deerslayer, chapter 3:

     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.

Usage notes

• This was the more common form before the 20th century (vis-à-vis infrequently).

References

English

Alternative forms

• unfrequently (dated; now nonstandard)

Etymology

infrequent +? -ly

Adverb

infrequently (comparative more infrequently, superlative most infrequently)

1. Not frequently.

Synonyms

• seldom

Antonyms

• frequently
• often

Translations