infrequency

/ɪnˈfriː.kwən.si/ (bre, ipa) · /ɪnˈfriː.kwən.si/ (ame, ipa) · /(ˌ)in-ˈfrē-kwən(t)-sē/ (ame, mw)

infrequency — noun

1. the quality of taking place only rarely or at long intervals rather than on a re

1.名詞C1
釋義

the quality of taking place only rarely or at long intervals rather than on a regular basis.

例句

The infrequency of buses in the village made daily travel difficult for Nadia.

the infrequency of + plural noun for describing scarcity

Doctors were puzzled by the infrequency of side effects in the trial of the new drug.

passive context: subject is + struck/puzzled by the infrequency

同義詞
  • rarity

    much more common in everyday speech; can also mean 'a rare thing'

  • scarcity

    stresses short supply of a resource rather than how often something happens

  • sparseness

    stresses thin spatial or temporal distribution, e.g. of data points or population

反義詞
  • frequency

    the everyday opposite — how often something happens

  • regularity

    stresses a steady, predictable pattern rather than just high count

文法句型

the infrequency of [noun]

用法筆記

Uncountable; almost always preceded by 'the' and followed by 'of + noun'. Formal register — in everyday speech, native speakers prefer 'how rare ... is' or 'how rarely ... happens'.

常見錯誤

❌There are many infrequencies in the bus schedule.
✅The bus schedule has many gaps.
💡'infrequency' is uncountable; you cannot pluralise it.
❌The buses have infrequency.
✅The buses are infrequent.' / 'There is an infrequency of buses.
💡the noun normally appears as 'the infrequency of X', not as a property something 'has'.