less
less / les/ • adj. & pron. a smaller amount of; not as much: [as adj.] the less time spent there, the better [as pron.] storage is less of a problem than it used to be ready in less than an hour. ∎ fewer in number: [as adj.] short hair presented less problems than long hair [as pron.] a population of less than 200,000. • adj. archaic of lower rank or importance: James the Less.• adv. to a smaller extent; not so much: he listened less to the answer than to Kate's voice that this is a positive stereotype makes it no less a stereotype. ∎ (less than) far from; certainly not: Mitch looked less than happy the data was less than ideal.• prep. before subtracting (something); minus: $900,000 less tax.PHRASES: in less than no time inf. very quickly or soon.less and less at a continually decreasing rate.much (or still) less used to introduce something as being even less likely or suitable than something else 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.ORIGIN: Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loisthos ‘last.’