lesser

adjective · noun

Form of less , comparative of less.

Simple meaning

Of two things: the smaller in size, in value, in importance etc.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lehser

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlɛsɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the smaller in size (littler), in value, in importance etc.

noun

A thing that is of smaller size, value, importance etc.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the smaller in size (littler), in value, in importance etc.

Used this way, lesser is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Mild
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Serious and weighty
Usage feel: Formal and precise

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

lesser evillesser antilleslesser extentlesser degreelesser importancelesser amountlesser numberlesser curvature

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

lessadverbBase word
Used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

lessornounPerson or profession
Someone who grants a lease.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

lesser bullrushnounCompound term
Reed maces of America, Europe, North Africa, Asia.
lesser burdocknounCompound term
A plant that is ubiquitous in all but very acid soil.
lesser butterfly orchidnounCompound term
South European orchid having fragrant greenish-white flowers.
lesser calamintnounCompound term
Low-growing strongly aromatic perennial herb of southern Europe to Great Britain.
lesser celandinenounCompound term
Perennial herb native to Europe but naturalized elsewhere having heart-shaped leaves and yellow flowers resembling buttercups.
lesser centaurynounCompound term
Common European glabrous annual centaury with flowers in dense cymes.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: of two (or or rarely

greater

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.