Lief

//liːf// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Beloved, dear, agreeable. archaic
  2. 2
    Ready, willing. archaic
Adverb
  1. 1
    Readily, willingly, rather. archaic

    "I'd as lief have one as t'other."

Adverb
  1. 1
    with pleasure wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
belovedfainfavorablygladlygladlysoon

Example

More examples

"I'd as lief have one as t'other."

Etymology

From Middle English lef, leve, leef, from Old English lēof, from Proto-West Germanic *leub, from Proto-Germanic *leubaz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian ljo, ljoo, ljoof, West Frisian leaf, Dutch lief, German Low German leev, German lieb, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk ljuv, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 (liufs), Russian любо́вь (ljubóvʹ), Polish luby. For the adverb, compare German lieber, Dutch liever (“preferably, rather”).

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