comparative of little entry 1
1
: constituting a more limited number or amount
less than three
less than half done
2
: of lower rank, degree, or importance
no less a person than the president himself
3
a
: of reduced size, extent, or degree
b
: more limited in quantity
in less time
Less vs. Fewer: Usage Guide
The traditional view is that less applies to matters of degree, value, or amount and modifies collective nouns, mass nouns, or nouns denoting an abstract whole while fewer applies to matters of number and modifies plural nouns. Less has been used to modify plural nouns since the days of King Alfred and the usage, though roundly decried, appears to be increasing. Less is more likely than fewer to modify plural nouns when distances, sums of money, and a few fixed phrases are involved
less than 100 miles
an investment of less than $2000
in 25 words or less
and as likely as fewer to modify periods of time.
in less (or fewer) than four hours
: diminished by : minus
1
: destitute of : not having
witless
childless
2
: unable to be acted on or to act (in a specified way)
dauntless
fadeless
Synonyms
Examples of less in a Sentence
Adjective
We need less talk and more work!
She finished in less time than I did.
Less detail is sometimes better than more detail.
8 times 2 is less than 6 times 3.
We made it there in less than six hours.
The whole procedure takes less than five minutes.
The illness affects less than one percent of the population.
Adverb
This test seemed much less difficult than the last one.
Which test is the less difficult of the two?
Do you have another one that's less expensive?
She visits much less often than she used to.
They're focusing more on quality and less on quantity.
Their band is less concerned with making music than with making money.
Preposition
We earned two hundred dollars, less travel expenses.
Adjective suffix
my first painless day since leaving the hospital
Recent Examples on the Web
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 20 Apr. 2024
National parks are popular for a reason but with visitation numbers growing each year, some travelers might be looking toward similar experiences with less of the hassle that comes with visiting a top 10 national park.
—Ashley Rossi, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
This iteration sports lighter cushioning than the GTS 22, but that doesn’t mean the shoe isn’t comfortable, there’s just less material to hold you back during your sprints.
—Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 20 Apr. 2024
Economists Michael Clemens, Claudio Montenegro and Lant Pritchett estimate that a 35-year-old Mexican male with less than a high school education earns about 2.5 times more in the United States than in Mexico.
—Benjamin Powell, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
The court acknowledged that CSI’s exit protocol took less time than the bag searches for which the court held Apple had to pay its exiting employees.
—Dan Eaton, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
This group of borrowers includes single borrowers earning $120,000 or less a year, and married borrowers who make $240,000.
—Sequoia Carrillo, NPR, 8 Apr. 2024
An eastern redbud, on the other hand, will give you similar pink flowers but with less maintenance.
—Karen Hugg, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
More than kin and less than kind, Rev immediately starts menacing Juicy with needling comments and unveiled threats.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2024
Cruelty reigns in encampments, and to an unusual degree; a more civilized society would put up with them less.
—Stephen Eide, National Review, 21 Apr. 2024
Both of these are artificial sweeteners and are used to cover the flavor of the less tasty ingredients.
—Nena Farrell, WIRED, 21 Apr. 2024
There’s been a shift from fully in-office work to a less rigid hybrid model, team meetings that previously took place in conference rooms have moved to Zoom, and relationships between colleagues have entered a different phase as well.
—Trey Williams, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2024
Rules of the road At a school where there's sometimes friction between industrial design students bound for the automobile industry and students with less immediately marketable goals, the contest served as something of an intersection.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 21 Apr. 2024
The firm said more customers are shopping for groceries online and placing bigger orders but doing so less frequently in the past couple of years.
—Alexander Coolidge, The Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2024
Research suggests that the drills can impact students' mental health negatively, and there have been calls for change that could make the drills less upsetting.
—Kerry Breen, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2024
More important but less celebrated, Pierrepont then shifted his pitch to promise that the neighborhood character would be backed up by a legal guarantee.
—Jeremy Lechtzin, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Shefali Luthra, Phil Galewitz and Rachel Bluth, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2020
Hassett warned that March job lesses could be among the worst on record.
—Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2020
But that doesn't make the scar (and the fall that preceded it) any less of an emotional trauma.
—Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 8 Oct. 2018
The have-lesses would dig in and hope to sneak something on the break.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 17 June 2018
Sometimes burp-less is used as a marketing term for Asian varieties of cucumbers.
—The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, 19 May 2017
Studying at home makes child care less of an obstacle and cuts out commuting time.
—Cliff Pinckard, cleveland.com, 4 Feb. 2018
The Giants were shut out for the first time 13 years at Arizona, pulse-less on offense.
—Peter King, SI.com, 26 Dec. 2017
Sleek and Brushed Back Another way to help to minimize the exposure of the scalp is to go part-less with a sleek, brushed back, wet look.
—Wendy Sy, Allure, 24 Oct. 2017
Megan Friedman, Country Living, 17 Nov. 2016
Adjective
The perpetual calendar displays the week, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year, hours, and minutes, no less.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 20 Apr. 2024
National parks are popular for a reason but with visitation numbers growing each year, some travelers might be looking toward similar experiences with less of the hassle that comes with visiting a top 10 national park.
—Ashley Rossi, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
This iteration sports lighter cushioning than the GTS 22, but that doesn’t mean the shoe isn’t comfortable, there’s just less material to hold you back during your sprints.
—Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 20 Apr. 2024
Economists Michael Clemens, Claudio Montenegro and Lant Pritchett estimate that a 35-year-old Mexican male with less than a high school education earns about 2.5 times more in the United States than in Mexico.
—Benjamin Powell, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
The court acknowledged that CSI’s exit protocol took less time than the bag searches for which the court held Apple had to pay its exiting employees.
—Dan Eaton, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
This group of borrowers includes single borrowers earning $120,000 or less a year, and married borrowers who make $240,000.
—Sequoia Carrillo, NPR, 8 Apr. 2024
An eastern redbud, on the other hand, will give you similar pink flowers but with less maintenance.
—Karen Hugg, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
More than kin and less than kind, Rev immediately starts menacing Juicy with needling comments and unveiled threats.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Adverb
There are several reasons why hair transplant procedures are so much less expensive compared to the same or similar procedures in the US, UK, or Europe.
—Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2024
Cruelty reigns in encampments, and to an unusual degree; a more civilized society would put up with them less.
—Stephen Eide, National Review, 21 Apr. 2024
Both of these are artificial sweeteners and are used to cover the flavor of the less tasty ingredients.
—Nena Farrell, WIRED, 21 Apr. 2024
There’s been a shift from fully in-office work to a less rigid hybrid model, team meetings that previously took place in conference rooms have moved to Zoom, and relationships between colleagues have entered a different phase as well.
—Trey Williams, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2024
Rules of the road At a school where there's sometimes friction between industrial design students bound for the automobile industry and students with less immediately marketable goals, the contest served as something of an intersection.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 21 Apr. 2024
The firm said more customers are shopping for groceries online and placing bigger orders but doing so less frequently in the past couple of years.
—Alexander Coolidge, The Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2024
Research suggests that the drills can impact students' mental health negatively, and there have been calls for change that could make the drills less upsetting.
—Kerry Breen, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2024
More important but less celebrated, Pierrepont then shifted his pitch to promise that the neighborhood character would be backed up by a legal guarantee.
—Jeremy Lechtzin, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Noun
Jobless and benefit-less: What should COVID-19's economic victims do for health insurance?
—Shefali Luthra, Phil Galewitz and Rachel Bluth, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2020
Hassett warned that March job lesses could be among the worst on record.
—Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 20 Mar. 2020
But that doesn't make the scar (and the fall that preceded it) any less of an emotional trauma.
—Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 8 Oct. 2018
The have-lesses would dig in and hope to sneak something on the break.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 17 June 2018
Sometimes burp-less is used as a marketing term for Asian varieties of cucumbers.
—The Editors Of Organic Life, Good Housekeeping, 19 May 2017
Studying at home makes child care less of an obstacle and cuts out commuting time.
—Cliff Pinckard, cleveland.com, 4 Feb. 2018
The Giants were shut out for the first time 13 years at Arizona, pulse-less on offense.
—Peter King, SI.com, 26 Dec. 2017
Sleek and Brushed Back Another way to help to minimize the exposure of the scalp is to go part-less with a sleek, brushed back, wet look.
—Wendy Sy, Allure, 24 Oct. 2017
Preposition
Get ready for a lot less facial hair on your television.
—Megan Friedman, Country Living, 17 Nov. 2016
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'less.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near less
Cite this Entry
“Less.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/less. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
less
2 of 5 adverb
: not so much or so well
less difficult
liked the second book less
less
3 of 5 preposition
: minus entry 1 sense 1
the regular price less a discount
less
4 of 5 noun
plural less
1
: a smaller number or amount
we have less than before
2
: something that is poorer or less important than another
could be arrested for less
-less
5 of 5 adjective suffixləs
1
: not having
childless
2
: not able to be acted on or to act in a specified way
ceaseless
Etymology
Adjective suffix
Old English -lēas (suffix) "not having," from lēas "false"
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