less

 
Pronunciation: /lɛs/

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 they returned in less than an hour
  • fewer in number: [as pronoun]: a population of less than 200,000See less (usage) below

adjective

archaic
  • of lower rank or importance: James the Less

adverb

  • to a smaller extent; not so much: cut out less important material that this is a positive stereotype makes it no less a stereotype
  • (less than) far from; certainly not: Mitch looked less than happy

preposition

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

Phrases

less and less

at a continually decreasing rate: she ate less and less they became less and less willing to spend money

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 than something 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: no less than eight people died

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 only be used with uncountable things ( less money, less time). With countable things it is incorrect to use less ( less people and less words); strictly speaking, correct use is fewer people and fewer words. See also few (usage).