- not as great in size, amount or importance as something/somebody else
- people of lesser importance
- They were all involved to a greater or lesser degree (= some were more involved than others).
- The London Stock Exchange has been losing business to New York and, to a lesser extent, Amsterdam.
- He was encouraged to plead guilty to the lesser offence.
- (humorous) He doesn’t even acknowledge us lesser mortals (= people who are not as important or powerful).
- A lesser woman would have given up.
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- (specialist) used in the names of some types of animals, birds and plants that are smaller than similar kinds
- a lesser black-backed gull
opposite greater
Word OriginMiddle English: a double comparative, from less + -er.
Idioms
See lesser in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee lesser in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthe lesser of two evils | the lesser evil
- the less unpleasant of two unpleasant choicesTopics Preferences and decisionsc2
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lesser