Smaller vs Less - What's the difference?
smaller | less |
(small)
Not large or big; insignificant; few in numbers or size.
* , chapter=5
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (figuratively) Young, as a child.
(writing, incomparable) Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written letters.
Envincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.
* Carlyle
Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.
In a small fashion.
* (William Shakespeare), (w, A Midsummer Night's Dream) , Act I, scene 2, line 49:
In or into small pieces.
* 2009 , Ingrid Hoffman, CBS Early Morning for September 28, 2009 (transcription)
(obsolete) To a small extent.
* (rfdate) (William Shakespeare), Sonnets , "Lucrece", line 1273
Any part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.
(UK, in the plural) Underclothes.
(obsolete) To make little or less.
To become small; to dwindle.
* Thomas Hardy
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.
As adjectives the difference between smaller and less
is that smaller is comparative of small while less is comparative of little; smaller.As an adverb less is
to smaller extent.As a preposition less is
minus; not including.As a verb less is
to make less; to lessen.As a conjunction less is
unless.smaller
English
Adjective
(head)Anagrams
*small
English
Adjective
(er)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}
Engineers of a different kind, passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
- A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man.
- a small space of time
Synonyms
* (not large or big) little, microscopic, minuscule, minute, tiny; see also * little, wee (Scottish), young * (of written letters) lowercase, minusculeAntonyms
* See also * (not large or big) capital, big, generous (said of an amount of something given), large * adult, grown-up, old * (of written letters) big, capital, majuscule, uppercaseDerived terms
* small arm * small arms * small beer * small calorie * small-cell lung cancer * small change * small claims court * smallclothes * smaller European elm bark beetle * small forward * small fry * smallgoods * smallholder * smallholding * small hours * small intestine * smallish * small-minded * smallmouth * smallmouth bass * smallmouth black bass * smallness * small potatoes * smallpox * smalls * small-scale * small screen * small stuff * smallsword * small talk * small-time * * small wonder * twice as small * twice as small asAdverb
(er)- That's all one: you shall play it in a mask, and / you may speak as small as you will.
- That's going to go in there. We've got some chives small chopped as well.
- It small avails my mood.
Derived terms
* writ smallNoun
(en noun)Derived terms
* small of the backVerb
(en verb)- And smalled till she was nought at all.
Statistics
*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)