Meaning of LESSER
| Pronunciation: | | 'lesur
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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- [adj] smaller in size or amount or value; "the lesser powers of Europe"; "the lesser anteater"
- [adj] of less size or importance; "the lesser anteater"; "the lesser of two evils"
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| | Synonyms: | | little, small |
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| | Antonyms: | | greater | | |
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| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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\Less"er\ (-[~e]r), a. [This word is formed by adding
anew the compar. suffix -er (in which r is from an original
s) to less. See {Less}, a.]
Less; smaller; inferior.
God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night.
--Gen. i. 15.
Note: Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in
certain special instances in which its employment has
become established by custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e.,
Asia Minor), the lesser light, and some others; also in
poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose where
its use renders the passage more euphonious.
The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.
--Shak.
The larger here, and there the lesser lambs.
--Pope.
By the same reason may a man, in the state of
nature, punish the lesser breaches of the law.
--Locke.
\Less"er\, adv.
Less. [Obs.] --Shak.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | abated, ablated, attenuated, bated, belittled, common, consumed, contracted, curtailed, decreased, deflated, demeaning, diminished, dinky, disadvantaged, dissipated, dropped, eroded, fallen, humble, in the shade, inferior, infra dig, insignificant, junior, less, low, lower, lowered, lowly, miniaturized, minor, modest, nether, ordinary, reduced, retrenched, scaled-down, second rank, second string, secondary, servile, shorn, shorter, shrunk, shrunken, small, smaller, small-fry, small-time, sub, subaltern, subjacent, subject, subordinate, subservient, third rank, third string, under, underprivileged, vulgar, watered-down, weakened, worn |
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