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
Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
Amazon originals were streamed for 49.9 billion minutes in that time, while Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock and Max originals all follow with less than 30 billion minutes viewed.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 2 May 2024
The selection was based on Midway Rising’s promise to set aside 2,000 of the project’s units for low-income households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income — or what the state defines as affordable housing.
—Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 May 2024
Of course, as a virtue of being earlier in their career and generally making less than their senior counterparts, Gen Zers have more room for growth.
—Bychloe Berger, Fortune, 2 May 2024
Chevy said the new drivetrain weighs about 55 pounds less than the old V6-nine-speed pairing.
—Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 2 May 2024
That's slightly more than the median homeowner in Nebraska, and a little less than the median homeowners in Maine and Minnesota.
—Genevieve Redsten, Journal Sentinel, 2 May 2024
Only cities with a median home value of $500,000 or less were included in the Top 100 Best Places to Live list.
—Jacqueline Pinedo, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
During his tenure, Egypt conducted a sweeping, nationwide testing and treatment campaign, made possible through a deal to purchase antiviral drugs at a steep discount and manufacture generic forms of the treatments within Egypt for even less money.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 2 May 2024
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
Reynolds agreed with McElhenney, though was less diplomatic in his observations.
—Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 3 May 2024
With the overnight occupation of a school auditorium into Friday morning, the student campaigners responded that their demonstrations would continue — though far more peacefully and less confrontationally than in the United States.
—Willem Marx, NPR, 3 May 2024
Larger, redder berries and less suckering of new shoots.
—Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 May 2024
What Cinco de Mayo signifies, however, Americans are less certain about.
—Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 3 May 2024
Student activists today would argue that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing the Israeli government’s actions, whereas the situation in Sudan is less directly tied to our actions.
—Scott Warren, TIME, 3 May 2024
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
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
Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the CDC says the disease is nearly always fatal, with less than 20 cases of human survival from rabies documented.
—Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
Amazon originals were streamed for 49.9 billion minutes in that time, while Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock and Max originals all follow with less than 30 billion minutes viewed.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 2 May 2024
The selection was based on Midway Rising’s promise to set aside 2,000 of the project’s units for low-income households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income — or what the state defines as affordable housing.
—Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 May 2024
Of course, as a virtue of being earlier in their career and generally making less than their senior counterparts, Gen Zers have more room for growth.
—Bychloe Berger, Fortune, 2 May 2024
Chevy said the new drivetrain weighs about 55 pounds less than the old V6-nine-speed pairing.
—Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 2 May 2024
That's slightly more than the median homeowner in Nebraska, and a little less than the median homeowners in Maine and Minnesota.
—Genevieve Redsten, Journal Sentinel, 2 May 2024
Only cities with a median home value of $500,000 or less were included in the Top 100 Best Places to Live list.
—Jacqueline Pinedo, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
During his tenure, Egypt conducted a sweeping, nationwide testing and treatment campaign, made possible through a deal to purchase antiviral drugs at a steep discount and manufacture generic forms of the treatments within Egypt for even less money.
—Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 2 May 2024
Adverb
As a result, illnesses commonly spread via milk became less prevalent.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
Reynolds agreed with McElhenney, though was less diplomatic in his observations.
—Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 3 May 2024
With the overnight occupation of a school auditorium into Friday morning, the student campaigners responded that their demonstrations would continue — though far more peacefully and less confrontationally than in the United States.
—Willem Marx, NPR, 3 May 2024
Larger, redder berries and less suckering of new shoots.
—Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 May 2024
What Cinco de Mayo signifies, however, Americans are less certain about.
—Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 3 May 2024
Student activists today would argue that U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing the Israeli government’s actions, whereas the situation in Sudan is less directly tied to our actions.
—Scott Warren, TIME, 3 May 2024
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
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 8 May. 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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