- comparative of little.
lesser
Americanadjective
adverb
adjective
Etymology
Origin of lesser
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English lasser, lesser; see less, -er 4
Compare meaning
How does lesser compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adjective lesser to describe something that's smaller than or inferior to something else. A lesser singer might sound fine in the context of a large chorus, but a solo performance could be tricky. A young car thief might be charged with a lesser crime because of his age — trespassing instead of larceny, for example. He's also likely to end up with a lesser punishment in that case. Sometimes people talk about "the lesser of two evils," by which they mean the less bad of two bad choices, or describe something as "lesser-known," like a rarely studied poet or an unacknowledged scientist.
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.
Irish boxing is going to be a lesser place.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Or it could be treated to a lesser level, to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for discharge to the ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Large objects such as stars curve spacetime strongly -- for example, we can observe this when light rays are deflected by massive stars. But smaller masses also produce spacetime curvature, just to a lesser extent."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
"There's a lot of stuff that can be done with older models, or lesser models, or small language models," said technology analyst Jack Gold, founder of J.Gold Associates.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sullivan admired both Root and Adler but believed they functioned on a lesser plane.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
