Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

less

 
Dictionary: less   (lĕs) pronunciation
adj. A comparative of little.
  1. Not as great in amount or quantity: had less time to spend with the family.
  2. Lower in importance, esteem, or rank: no less a person than the ambassador.
  3. Consisting of a smaller number. See Usage Note at few.
prep.
With the deduction of; minus: Five less two is three.

adv. Comparative of little.
To a smaller extent, degree, or frequency: less happy; less expensive.

n.
  1. A smaller amount: She received less than she asked for.
  2. Something not as important as something else: People have been punished for less.
idioms:

less than

  1. Not at all: He had a less than favorable view of the matter.
much (or still) less
  1. Certainly not: I'm not blaming anyone, much less you.

[Middle English lesse, from Old English lǣssa (adj.) and lǣs (adv.).]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Idioms: less
Top

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.


Antonyms: less
Top

adj

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

adv

Definition: little
Antonyms: more


Word Tutor: less
Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Not as great in amount or degree.

pronunciation The less you talk, the more you're listened to. — Abigail Van Buren

Wikipedia: Less
Top

Less can refer to:

  • Less (band), a band from the San Francisco bay area
  • less (Unix), a Unix utility used to view (but not change) the contents of a text file one screen at a time
  • -less, a suffix

See also Loess


Translations: Less
Top

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


Best of the Web: less
Top

Some good "less" pages on the web:


Math
mathworld.wolfram.com
 
 
 
Learn More
increasingly
hyposensitive
minor

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Less" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more