lief

[ leef ]

/ lif /

adverb

gladly; willingly: I would as lief go south as not.

adjective Archaic.

willing; desirous.

dear; beloved; treasured.

Nearby words

Origin of lief

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

Related formslief·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lief

“They learn about what it is that drove them to these lengths,” says Lief.
Can Sex-Addiction Rehab Save Tiger?|Abby Ellin|December 18, 2009|DAILY BEAST
This large mass is passive, and had just as lief have Texas next year as this year.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. II of 2)|Thomas Hart Benton
He wants no boisterous notes of artificial passion: he would as lief the town-crier spoke his lines.
The Young Priest's Keepsake|Michael Phelan
When I like a woman, I would as lief marry her widow as maid!
Joan of the Sword Hand|S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett

Oh, it's bacon and beans most every day, I'd as lief be eatin' prairie hay.
Oh, You Tex!|William Macleod Raine
Now Thorvald, with the advice of his brother, Lief, prepared to make this voyage with thirty men.
Great Epochs in American History, Volume I.|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lief

lief

/ (liːf) /

adverb

rare gladly; willinglyI'd as lief go today as tomorrow

adjective

archaic

ready; glad
dear; beloved

Word Origin for lief

Old English leof; related to lufu love

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

Word Origin and History for lief

lief

adj.

Old English leof "dear, valued, beloved, pleasant;" also as a noun, "a beloved person, friend," from Proto-Germanic *leubo- (cf. Old Norse ljutr, Old Frisian liaf, Dutch lief, Old High German liob, German lieb, Gothic liufs "dear, beloved"), from PIE root *leubh- "love" (see love (n.)). As an adverb, "dearly, willingly" from c.1250. I want and I'd love to are overworked and misused to fill the hole left in the language when I would lief faded in 17c.