less

Syllabification: (less)

Pronunciation: /les/

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Definition of less

determiner & pronoun

a smaller amount of; not as much: [as determiner]:the less time spent there, the better [as pronoun]:storage is less of a problem than it used to be ready in less than an hour
fewer in number: [as pronoun]:a population of less than 200,000

adjective

archaic

of lower rank or importance:James the Less

adverb

to a smaller extent; not so much:he listened less to the answer than to Kate’s voice that this is a positive stereotype makes it no less a stereotype
(less than) far from; certainly not:Mitch looked less than happy the data was less than ideal

preposition

before subtracting (something); minus:$900,000 less tax

Phrases

in less than no time: informal very quickly or soon.
less and less: at a continually decreasing rate.
less is more: used to express the view that a minimalist approach to artistic or aesthetic matters is more effective.
much (or still) less: used to introduce something as being even less likely or suitable than something else already mentioned:what woman would consider a date with him, much less a marriage?
no less: used to suggest, often ironically, that something is surprising or impressive:Peter cooked dinner—fillet steak and champagne, no less; (no less than) used to emphasize a surprisingly large amount.

Origin:

Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loisthos 'last'

In standard English, less should be used only with uncountable things (less money; less time). With countable things, it is incorrect to use less: thus, less people and less words should be corrected to fewer people and fewer words. See also few (usage).

less in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of less in the British & World English dictionary

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Other

less

determiner & pronoun

adjective

adverb

preposition

Phrases

in less than no time

less and less

less is more

much (or still) less

no less

Origin:

less in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

More results for less

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