less

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1. For less and fewer, see fewer.

2. For much less, see much more, much less.

3.
less and lesser.
Less is a comparative form of little, and is used with singular mass nouns to mean the opposite of more: less butter / less noise. It cannot be used with plural nouns (in which case fewer is used), nor with a preceding a or an (in which case an alternative such as lower or smaller is used: I want to pay less rent but I want to pay a lower rent) Less, however, and not fewer is idiomatic after one in a phrase such as one less thing to worry about. Lesser is a so-called double comparative and means 'not so great (i.e. important or significant) as the other or others'; it is preceded by a or the (a lesser man than him / the lesser evil). It is not used to refer to physical size or number; in these cases use smaller, lower, etc.: (a smaller car / a lower price).

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Idioms beginning with less:
lesson
lesser of two evils
less than

In addition to the idiom beginning with less, also see couldn't care less; in (less than) no time; more or less; much less.

adj

Definition: smaller, inferior
Antonyms: bigger, more, superior

adv

Definition: little
Antonyms: more

as in: an amount
sign description: Both hands begin apart from each other and make a movement towards each other.

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For a list of words related to less, see:

• Prepositions
• Limitations and Conditions

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See words rhyming with "less."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Less.

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Dansk (Danish)
det. - mindre
pron. - færre
adj. - mindre, færre, ringere
adv. - mindre, færre, ringere
prep. - minus, på nær
n. - mindre

idioms:

• even less    langt mindre, endnu mindre, endsige
• in less than no time    på et øjeblik, på ingen tid
• less and less    mindre og mindre
• less of    mindre, mindre godt
• no less    ikke mindre, på trods af, alligevel
• no less than    ikke mindre end, hele, ingen ringere end selveste

Nederlands (Dutch)
minder, min, verminderd met, afgetrokken van, kleiner, zonder

Français (French)
det. - moins de, moindre
pron. - moins
adj. - moins, moins de
adv. - moins, moins de
prep. - moins, moins de
n. - quantité inférieure

idioms:

• even less    encore moins
• in less than no time    en un rien de temps
• less and less    de moins en moins
• less of    moins de, moins que
• no less    pas moins, rien que ça (excl)
• no less than    pas moins que, véritable(ment), pas plus que, au moins

Deutsch (German)
adv. - weniger
adj. - weniger
prep. - weniger, minus
det. - weniger
pron. - weniger
n. - eine kleinere Menge, eine geringere Menge

idioms:

• even less    eben weniger
• in less than no time    in Nullkommanichts
• less and less    immer weniger
• less of    weniger von
• no less    nicht weniger
• no less than    nicht weniger als

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - λιγότερο
adj. - λιγότερος
prep. - μείον, πλην

idioms:

• even less    ακόμα λιγότερο
• in less than no time    στο πι και φι
• less and less    ολοένα και λιγότερο
• less of    λιγότερο από
• no less    ο ίδιος
• no less than    πολύ, εξίσου, πραγματικός

Italiano (Italian)
meno

idioms:

• even/much/still less    ancor meno
• in less than no time    in un batter d'occhio
• less and less    sempre meno
• no less    niente meno
• no less than    niente meno che

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - menos
adj. - menor, menos
prep. - menos

idioms:

• even less    menos ainda
• even/much/still less    muito menos
• in less than no time    mais do que depressa
• less and less    cada vez menos
• no less    não menos que
• no less than    nada menos que

Русский (Russian)
меньший, менее важный, меньше, без

idioms:

• even less    даже меньше
• even/much/still less    и того меньше
• in less than no time    в мгновение ока
• less and less    меньше и меньше
• no less    не иначе, как
• no less than    по крайней мере

Español (Spanish)
det. - menor, inferior
pron. - menos
adj. - menos, menor, inferior
adv. - menos, cada vez menos
prep. - menos
n. - pequeña cantidad, pequeño importe

idioms:

• even less    menos aún
• in less than no time    en menos de lo que canta un gallo, en un abrir y cerrar de ojos
• less and less    cada vez menos
• less of    menos de
• no less    nada menos
• no less than    por lo menos, nada menos que

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - mindre
adj. - mindre
prep. - minus, med avdrag för, så när som på

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
少的, 小的, 小, 较少, 不及, 较小, 减去, 差..., 扣除

idioms:

• even less    更少
• in less than no time    马上
• less and less    越来越少的, 更少的
• less of    较小地, 少...
• no less    不少于, 多达, 居然
• no less than    多达...

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
det. - 少的, 小的
pron. - 小
adj. - 少的, 小的
adv. - 較少, 不及, 較小
prep. - 減去, 差..., 扣除
n. - 較少, 較小

idioms:

• even less    更少
• in less than no time    馬上
• less and less    越來越少的, 更少的
• less of    較小地, 少...
• no less    不少於, 多達, 居然
• no less than    多達...

한국어 (Korean)
det. - 더구나, 한층
pron. - 더 적은 것
adj. - 보다 적은 , 소량의
adv. - 더 적게 , 더 덜하여 , 하물며
prep. - ~을 빼고 , ~을 감한
n. - 더 적은 것

idioms:

• in less than no time    곧 , 금방

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - …より少ない, …より小さい, 劣っている, 身分の低い, より少ない, より小さい
adv. - …より少なく, 少なく, より少なく
n. - より少数, より少ない量
prep. - 減じた, 除いて

idioms:

• even/much/still less    さらに少ない
• in less than no time    たちまち
• less and less    だんだん少なく
• less of    …はほどほどにしろ
• no less    より少なくない
• no less than    同じだけの, …にほかならない
• none the less    それでもなお

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) بدرجه أقل أو أدنى (صفه) أقل, أدنى مرتبه, أصغر (حرف جر) ناقصا, بلا, بدون‏

עברית (Hebrew)
det. - ‮קטן יותר‬
pron. - ‮פחות‬
adj. - ‮בדרגה נמוכה יותר (מיושן)‬
adv. - ‮במידה קטנה יותר, בדרגה נמוכה יותר‬
prep. - ‮פחות, בניכוי, מינוס‬
n. - ‮כמות קטנה יותר‬

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