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Less vs Bad - What's the difference?

less | bad |

As verbs the difference between less and bad

is that less is (obsolete) to make less; to lessen while bad is to simulate.

As an adverb less

is to smaller extent.

As an adjective less

is .

As a preposition less

is minus; not including.

As a conjunction less

is (obsolete) unless.

less

English

Adverb

(-)
  • To smaller extent.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
  • In lower degree.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}

    Antonyms

    * more

    Adjective

  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
  • Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
  • A smaller amount (of); not as much.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
  • (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
  • * 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
  • This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
  • No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
  • * 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
  • Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.

    Usage notes

    Antonyms

    * more

    See also

    * fewer

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • 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.

    Antonyms

    * plus

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
  • (Gower)

    Derived terms

    * less is more * more or less * nevertheless

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (obsolete) unless
  • (Ben Jonson)

    bad

    English

    (wikipedia bad)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) bad, ).

    Adjective

  • Not good; unfavorable; negative.
  • * , chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.}}
  • Not suitable or fitting.
  • Seemingly non-appropriate, in manners, etc.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“[…] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]”}}
  • Unhealthy.
  • Lard is bad'''' for you. Smoking is '''bad''' for you, too. Grapes are '''bad for dogs but not for humans.
  • Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.
  • Evil; wicked.
  • Faulty; not functional.
  • (of food) , rotten, overripe.
  • (of breath) , foul.
  • (informal) Bold and daring.
  • (of a, need or want) Severe, urgent.
  • Usage notes
    The comparative badder and superlative baddest are nonstandard.
    Synonyms
    * (not good) unfavorable, negative * * (not suitable or fitting) * * wicked, evil, vile, vicious * (not functional) faulty * (of food) rotten * (of breath) malodorous, foul * badass * (of a need or want) severe, urgent, dire (to be assigned) * false * spurious * disgusting * wrong * corrupt * ill * base * abandoned * vicious * abominable * detestable * deficient * inferior * lousy * off * poor * punk * substandard * unacceptable * ungodly * unsatisfactory * wanting * wretched * See also
    Antonyms
    * good * right * worthy * competent * benevolent * true * honest * just * sincere * beneficial * advantageous * profitable * virtuous * reputable * upright * propitious * choice * excellent * exceptional * first-class * first-rate * premium * prime * superior * adequate * sufficient
    See also
    * astray * base * bum * contemptible * defective * despicable * dirty * execrable * faulty * flawed * inadequate * insufficient * lacking * lesser * low-grade * mediocre * par * reprehensible * scurrilous * second-rate * under * unspeakable * useless * valueless * villainous * worthless
    Derived terms
    * bad actor * bad apple * bad beat * bad blood * bad boy * bad breath * bad check * bad debt * baddie * bad egg * bad ending * bad eye * bad fairy * bad faith * bad for you * bad guy * bad hair day * bad hat * bad iron * bad joke * bad language * bad light * bad lot * bad luck * bad man * bad-mannered * bad manners * bad medicine * bad money * bad-mouth * badness * bad news * bad off * bad penny * bad-tempered * Bad Thing * bad to the bone * go bad * not bad * too bad

    Adverb

  • Badly.
  • I didn't do too bad in the last exam.

    Noun

    (-)
  • (slang) error, mistake
  • Sorry, my bad !
  • * '>citation
  • *
  • *
  • (countable, uncountable, economics) An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
  • * {{quote-book, title=International Economics: Global Markets and Competition
  • , first=Henry , last=Thompson , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=RQeYBbSlXLIC&lpg=PA97&dq=%22economic%20bad%22&pg=PA97
  • v=onepage&q=%22economic%20bad%22&f=false
  • , page=97 , year=2011 , edition=3rd , publisher=World Scientific , passage=Imports are an economic good but exports an economic bad . Exports must be produced but are enjoyed by foreign consumers. }}
  • * {{quote-book, title=Economics
  • , author=William J. Boyes, Michael Melvin , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=LgaZaie5V1YC&lpg=PA4&dq=bads&pg=PA4
  • v=onepage&q=bads&f=false
  • , page=4 , year=2011 , edition=9th , publisher=Cengage Learning , passage=An economic bad' is anything that you would pay to get rid of. It is not so hard to think of examples of ' bads : pollution, garbage, and disease fit the description. }}

    Etymology 2

    Probably identical to bad , etymology 1, above, especially in the sense "bold, daring".

    Adjective

    (badder)
  • (rfm-sense) (slang) Fantastic.
  • You is (SIC) bad , man!
    Also Bek is "bad " at Madden.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (head)
  • (archaic) .
  • Etymology 4

    Verb

    (badd)
  • (British, dialect, transitive) To shell (a walnut).
  • * 1876 , The Gloucester Journal'', Oct. 7, 1876, reported in William John Thomas, Doran (John), Henry Frederick Turle, Joseph Knight, Vernon Horace Rendall, Florence Hayllar, ''Notes and Queries , page 346
  • A curious specimen of Gloucestershire dialect c»me out in an assault case heard by the Gloucester court magistrates on Saturday. One of the witnesses, speaking of what a girl was doing at the time the assault took place, said she was ' badding' ' walnuts in a pigstye. The word is peculiarly provincial : to ' '''bad''' ' walnuts is to strip away the husk. The walnut, too, is often called » 'bannut,' and hence the old Gloucestershire phrase, ' Come an' ' bad the bannuts.'

    Statistics

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