Less vs Low - What's the difference?
less | low |
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.
In a position comparatively close to the ground.
Small in height.
Situated below the normal level, or the mean elevation.
Depressed, sad.
Not high in amount or quantity.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency.
Quiet; soft; not loud.
Despicable; lacking dignity; vulgar.
Lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak.
Being near the equator.
Humble in character or status.
* Milton
* Felton
Simple in complexity or development.
Designed for the slowest speed, as in low gear .
Articulated with a wide space between the flat tongue and the palette.
(phonetics) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
(archaic) Not rich, highly seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple.
Something that is low; a low point.
A depressed mood or situation.
(meteorology) An area of low pressure; a depression.
The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
(card games) The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
(slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.
Close to the ground.
Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
* Shakespeare
With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
* Tennyson
Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
* '>citation
In a time approaching our own.
* John Locke
(astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
.
, mound, tumulus.
(Scottish dialectal, archaic) A hill.
As adverbs the difference between less and low
is that less is to smaller extent while low is close to the ground.As adjectives the difference between less and low
is that less is comparative of little; smaller while low is in a position comparatively close to the ground.As verbs the difference between less and low
is that less is to make less; to lessen while low is to depress; to lower.As a preposition less
is minus; not including.As a conjunction less
is unless.As a noun low is
something that is low; a low point.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 * neverthelesslow
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) lowe, lohe, . More at lie.Adjective
(er)- low spirits
- I felt low at Christmas with no family to celebrate with.
- Food prices are lower in a supermarket than in a luxury department store.
T time, passage=The ability to shift profits to low -tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.}}
- a person of low mind
- a low trick or stratagem
- a low pulse
- made low by sickness
- the low northern latitudes
- Why but to keep ye low and ignorant?
- In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
- a low diet
Synonyms
* (in a position comparatively close to the ground) nether, underslung * (small in height) short, small * (depressed) blue, depressed, down, miserable, sad, unhappy, gloomy * reduced, devalued, low-level * low-pitched, deep, flat * low-toned, soft * (despicable thing to do) immoral, abject, scummy, scurvyAntonyms
* (in a position comparatively close to the ground) highDerived terms
* high and low * lowball * low blow * low bridge * low-budget * low-cost * Low Countries * low-cut * lower * lowercase * low-fat * Low German * low-grade * low island * lowland * Low Latin * low-level * low loader * lowly * low-lying * low road * low tideNoun
(en noun)- You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank.
- ''Economic growth has hit a new low .
- He is in a low right now
- Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour.
- He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low .
Adverb
(er)- Can sing both high and low .
- to speak low
- The odorous wind / Breathes low between the sunset and the moon.
- He sold his wheat low .
- In that part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
- The moon runs low , i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.
Etymology 2
From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at laugh.Verb
(head)Etymology 3
From (etyl) . More at claim.Etymology 4
From (etyl) lowe, loghe, from (etyl) . More at leye, light.Alternative forms
* loweEtymology 5
From (etyl) . Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.Alternative forms
* laweNoun
(en noun)- A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains.'' (Robert Plot, ''The natural history of Staffordshire , 1686; cited after OED).
- And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low.'' (Mary Howitt, ''Ballads and other poems 1847)