seldom

It has long been overused, with so much water taken out that for decades the river has seldom met the sea, transforming once-vast wetlands in Mexico into stretches of dry sand.

When IBM stock was trading at $34 a share and had been hopping around madly for the past year, an option to buy it for $35 a share anytime soon was seldom underpriced.

The Colorado has long been overused, with so much water taken out that for decades the river has seldom met the sea, transforming once-vast wetlands in Mexico into stretches of dry sand.

Justice Clarence Thomas seldom gets into extended or combative exchanges with lawyers arguing before the court; he tends to ask straightforward questions inviting advocates to elaborate on aspects of their arguments.

In any event, such operations seldom topple strongmen – but they do seed paranoia and crackdowns as regimes chase ghosts.