less

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

less determiner, pronoun, adverb, preposition BrE [les] NAmE [les]
determiner, pronoun used with uncountable nouns to mean ‘a smaller amount of’
•less butter/time/importance
• He was advised to smoke fewer cigarettes and drink less beer.
• We have less to worry about now.
•It is less of a problem than I'd expected.
•We'll be there in less than no time (= very soon).
•The victory was nothing less than a miracle.  People often use less with countable nouns
•There were less cars on the road then. This is not considered correct by some people, and fewer should be used instead.

Word Origin:
Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loisthos ‘last’.
Idioms: ↑even less ▪ ↑less and less ▪ ↑less is more ▪ ↑no less ▪ ↑no less than …
 
adverb
to a smaller degree; not so much
•less expensive/likely/intelligent
•less often/enthusiastically
•I read much less now than I used to.
•The receptionist was less than (= not at all) helpful.
•She wasn't any the less happy for (= she was perfectly happy) being on her own.
•That this is a positive stereotype makes it no less a stereotype, and therefore unacceptable.
more at more or less at ↑more _adv.

Word Origin:
Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loisthos ‘last’.
 
preposition used before a particular amount that must be taken away from the amount just mentioned
Syn: ↑minus
•a monthly salary of $2 000 less tax and insurance
• Send a cheque for the catalogue price, less 10% discount.

Word Origin:
[less] Old English lǣssa, of Germanic origin; related to Old Frisian lēssa, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek loisthos ‘last’.
 

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  less(a), to a lesser extent
• Từ trái nghĩa / Antonyms:
  more(a), more than, more, to a greater extent