Less vs If - What's the difference?
less | if |
To smaller extent.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= 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
, 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. }}
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
A smaller amount (of); not as much.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
* 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
* 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
Minus; not including
(obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
Supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that;
Supposing that;
Although;
(computing) In the event that a statement is true (a programming statement that acts in a similar manner).
Whether;
* 1715–1717 , , Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind , Canto III:
(usually hyperbolic) Even if; even in the circumstances that.
* 2004', (singers), “'''If It’s The Last Thing I Do” (song), in ''You Do Your Thing (album):
(informal) An uncertainty, possibility, condition, doubt etc.
* 1709, Susannah Centlivre, The Busy Body'', Act III, in John Bell (ed.), ''British Theater , J. Bell (1791),
* 1791 January, "Richard?on’s Chemical Principles of the Metallic Arts''", in ''The Monthly Review , R. Griffiths,
* {{quote-news, year=2013, date=April 9, author=Andrei Lankov, title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff., work=New York Times
, passage=Even if they managed to strike Japan, the United States or South Korea with nuclear weapons — a big if , given that they do not have a reliable delivery system — they could not save themselves from ultimate defeat.}}
As an adverb less
is to smaller extent.As an adjective less
is .As a preposition less
is minus; not including.As a verb less
is (obsolete) to make less; to lessen.As a conjunction less
is (obsolete) unless.As an initialism if is
interactive fiction.less
English
Adverb
(-)Katrina G. Claw
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.}}
citation
Antonyms
* moreAdjective
- Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
William E. Conner
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.}}
- 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.
- No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
- 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
* moreSee also
* fewerPreposition
(English prepositions)- 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
* plusVerb
- (Gower)
Derived terms
* less is more * more or less * neverthelessif
English
(wikipedia if)Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- If it rains, I will get wet .
- I'd prefer it if you took your shoes off.
- He was a great friend, if a little stingy at the bar.
- If A, then B, else C.
- I don't know if I want to go or not.
- Quoth Matthew, “”
- If' it’s the last thing I do / '''If''' it takes me from Tubilo to Timbuktu / '''If''' it’s the last thing I do / I’m gonna dodge every road block, speed trap, county cop / To get my hands on you / ' If it’s the last thing I do.
Usage notes
* Specifically a subordinating conjunction.Derived terms
* iff * if and only if * if clause * if only * as if * even if * if so beAlternative forms
* ifen * iffenNoun
(en noun)page 59,
- Sir Fran.'' Nay, but Chargy, if——— ¶ ''Miran.'' Nay, Gardy, no Ifs'''.——Have I refus'd three northern lords, two British peers, and half a score knights, to have put in your ' Ifs ?
page 176,
- Well might Bergman add, (in his Sciographia,''), “if the compari?on that has been made, &c. be ju?t.” The pre?ent writer makes no ''ifs about the matter, and has ?uperadded a little inaccuracy of his own, […]
citation