Definition of LESS

less

Noun

  • a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
  • A smaller amount or quantity.

Adjective

  • (comparative of `little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree
    • "of less importance"
    • "less time to spend with the family"
    • "a shower uses less water"
    • "less than three years old"

Adjective Satellite

  • (usually preceded by `no') lower in quality
    • "no less than perfect"
  • (nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer
    • "less than three weeks"
    • "no less than 50 people attended"
    • "in 25 words or less"

Adverb

  • used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
    • "less interesting"
    • "less expensive"
    • "less quickly"
  • comparative of little
    • "she walks less than she should"
    • "he works less these days"

Adv

  • comparative degree of little
  • Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs.
  • To a smaller extent or degree.

Det

  • comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser.
  • A smaller amount of; not as much.
  • Fewer; a smaller number of.

Prep

  • Minus; not including

Verb

  • To make less; to lessen.
  • Alternative form of let's.

Adj

  • Lesser; smaller.

Conj

  • unless

Examples

  • "I have less tea than coffee."
  • "I have less to do today than yesterday."
  • "I like him less each time I see him."
  • "I slept even less last night than I did the night before."
  • "I'm not any less happy for being on my own."
  • "It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business."
  • "Less is better."
  • "No less than eight pints of beer."
  • "Now there are three less green bottles hanging on the wall."
  • "Randal is less welcome than Rachel but as her spouse we should invite them both."
  • "That this is a positive one makes it no less a stereotype, and therefore unacceptable."
  • "The grammar book was less than (that is, not at all) helpful."
  • "There are less people here now."
  • "This gadget is less useful than I expected."
  • "You have even less sense than an inanimate object."

Origin / Etymology

Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēs (“less”), Old Saxon lēs (“less”). According to Kroonen (2013), from a northern Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he connects to Lithuanian liesas (“lean”).
Determiner and preposition from Middle English lees, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣssa (“less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisizan-, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”) (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian lessa (“less”).
Verb from Middle English lessen, from the determiner.
Noun from Middle English lesse, from the determiner.

Synonyms

LE, lupus erythematosus, to a lesser extent

Antonyms

greater, more, plus

Scrabble Score: 4

less is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
less is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
less is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 5

less is a valid Words With Friends word