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lief

American  
[leef] / lif /

adverb

  1. gladly; willingly.

    I would as lief go south as not.

adjective

Archaic.

  1. willing; desirous.

  2. dear; beloved; treasured.

lief British  
/ liːf /

adverb

  1. rare gladly; willingly

    I'd as lief go today as tomorrow
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. archaic

    1. ready; glad

    2. dear; beloved

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • liefly adverb

Etymology

Origin of lief

First recorded before 900; Middle English leef, Old English lēof; cognate with Dutch lief, German lieb, Old Norse ljufr, Gothic liufs; akin to love

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Jha made clear his lief that Americans will still face "hard" times over the next few weeks.

From Fox News

You don’t get anywhere in lief without a bit of pain sometimes.

From The Guardian

I bad as lief seek oat the nearest grotesquerie.

From Literature

What if they had all been instructed: You may lief His mind reeled.

From Literature

He thought you wanted to go 'round kind o' on a lark; and that pony, for mere devilment, had just as lief go-a-courting as not.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.