less | lɛs |

determiner & pronoun

a smaller amount of; not as much: [ as determiner ] : the less time spent there, the better | [ as pronoun ]
: storage is less of a problem than it used to be | they returned in less than an hour.

• fewer in number: [ as pronoun ] : a population of less than 200,000. See USAGE AT LESS below.

adjective archaic

of lower rank or importance: James the Less.

adverb

to a smaller extent; not so much: cut out less important material | that this is a positive stereotype makes
it no less a stereotype.

• (less than) far from; certainly not: Mitch looked less than happy.

preposition

before subtracting (something); minus: £900,000 less tax.

PHRASES

less and less

at a continually decreasing rate. she ate less and less. they became less and less willing to spend money.

less is more
used to express the view that a minimalist approach to artistic or aesthetic matters is more effective.

much (or still) less

used to introduce something as being even less likely than something already mentioned: what woman
would consider a date with him, much less a marriage?

no less
used to suggest, often ironically, that something is surprising or impressive: Peter cooked dinner—fillet
steak and champagne, no less.
• (no less than) used to emphasize a surprisingly large amount. no less than eight people died.

ORIGIN
 Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by
Greek loisthos ‘last’.

usage: In standard English less should only be used with uncountable things ( less money, less time). With
countable things it is incorrect to use less ( less people and less words); strictly speaking, correct use is
fewer people and fewer words. See also USAGE AT FEW.

little | ˈlɪt(ə)l |
adjective

small in size, amount, or degree (often used to convey an appealing diminutiveness or express an
affectionate or condescending attitude): the plants will grow into little bushes | a little puppy dog | a
boring little man.

• (of a person) young or younger: my little brother | when she was little she was always getting into scrapes.

• [ attrib. ] denoting something, especially a place, that is the smaller or smallest of those so named or is
named after a similar larger one: the village of Little Chesterton.

• [ attrib. ] used in names of animals and plants that are smaller than related kinds, e.g. little grebe.

• [ attrib. ] of short distance or duration: stay for a little while | we climbed up a little way.

• [ attrib. ] relatively unimportant or trivial (often used ironically): we have a little problem | I can't
remember every little detail.

determiner & pronoun

1 (a little) a small amount of: [ as determiner ] : we got a little help from a training scheme | [ as pronoun ] :
you only see a little of what he can do.

• [ pronoun ] a short time or distance: after a little, the rain stopped.

2 used to emphasize how small an amount is: [ as determiner ] : I have little doubt of their identity | there
was very little time to be lost | [ as pronoun ] : he ate and drank very little | the rouble is worth so little
these days.

adverb (less, least)

1 (a little) to a small extent: he reminded me a little of my parents | I was always a little afraid of her.

2 only to a small extent; not much or often (used for emphasis): he was little known in this country | he had
slept little these past weeks.

• hardly or not at all: little did he know what wheels he was putting into motion.
PHRASES

in little
archaic on a small scale; in miniature.

little by little
by degrees; gradually: little by little the money dried up.

little or nothing
hardly anything. I can find little or nothing to fault in this book.

make little of
treat as unimportant: they made little of their royal connection.

no little
considerable: a factor of no little importance.

not a little
a great deal (of); much: not a little consternation was caused.
• very: it was not a little puzzling.

quite a little
a fairly large amount of: some spoke quite a little English.
• a considerable: it turned out to be quite a little bonanza.

quite the little ——

used as a condescending or ironic recognition that someone has a particular quality or accomplishment:
you've become quite the little horsewoman.

DERIVATIVES

littleness | ˈlɪt(ə)lnəs | noun

ORIGIN

Old English lȳtel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch luttel,German dialect lützel .

-less | ləs |
suffix

forming adjectives and adverbs:

1 (from nouns) not having; free from: flavourless | skinless.

2 (from verbs) not affected by or not carrying out the action of the verb: fathomless | tireless.

DERIVATIVES

-lessly suffix forming corresponding adverbs.,

-lessness suffix forming corresponding nouns.

ORIGIN

Old English -lēas, from lēas‘devoid of’.