Definition of LESS

less

Meanings

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

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