What is a synonym for "less"?

Common synonyms include: fewer, inferior, -free, abated, ablated, an-.

Usage Contextgeneralediting

Note: Use for uncountable amounts in formal writing.

Less

//lɛs// adj, adv, conj, det, noun, prep, verb

adj, adv, conj, det, noun, prep, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1
A smaller amount or quantity. uncountable
"Less is better."
2
plural of LES form-of, plural

Verb

1
To make less; to lessen. archaic
"1386-90, Gower, Confessio Amantis What he will make lesse, he lesseth."
2
Alternative form of let's. alt-of, alternative

Adjective

1
Lesser; smaller. archaic, not-comparable
"Such too, to a greater or less extent, is the condition of the operatives of every denomination in England, which is the great workhouse of the world."

Adjective

1
(comparative of ‘little’ usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree wordnet
2
(nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer wordnet
3
(usually preceded by ‘no’) lower in quality wordnet

Adverb

1
comparative degree of little comparative, diminutive, form-of
"I slept even less last night than I did the night before."
2
Used for constructing syntactic diminutive comparatives of adjectives and adverbs. comparative, diminutive
"Randal is less welcome than Rachel but as her spouse we should invite them both."
3
To a smaller extent or degree. comparative, diminutive
"The grammar book was less than (that is, not at all) helpful."

Adverb

1
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs, indicates that the adjective or adverb is less of something wordnet
2
comparative of little wordnet

Determiner

1
comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser. comparative, form-of
"Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse, which they take from the taile of a snake."
2
A smaller amount of; not as much.
"No less than eight pints of beer."
3
Fewer; a smaller number of. nonstandard, proscribed
"There are less people here now."

Preposition

1
Minus; not including
"It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business."

Conjunction

1
unless dialectal, nonstandard
"To tell you true, 'tis too good for you, 'less you had grace to follow it"

Synonyms

All synonyms

fewer inferior -free abated ablated an-

Antonyms

All antonyms

ed ful y more

Example

More examples

"Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations at home."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lesse, les, from Old English lǣs, as in þȳ lǣs þe.

More for "less"

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Editorial Guides For "less"

Fewer vs Less: The Practical Rule (and When to Bend It)

Use fewer and less correctly in everyday writing without sounding stiff.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.