"much less" meaning in English

See much less in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Conjunction

Head templates: {{en-head|conj}} much less
  1. (idiomatic) Let alone; to say nothing of, not to mention. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: never mind Translations (let alone): نَاهِيكَ عَن (nāhīka ʕan) (Arabic), ne lavaran ket (Breton), 更不用說 /更不用说 (gèng bùyòng shuō) (Chinese Mandarin), 何況 /何况 (hékuàng) (Chinese Mandarin), vielä vähemmän (Finnish), encore moins (French), nemhogy (Hungarian), meno che meno (Italian), 況してや (mashiteya) (Japanese), nie mówiąc już o (Polish), a co dopiero (Polish), a tym bardziej (Polish), nemai vorbind (Romanian), gun luaidh (Scottish Gaelic), än mindre (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-much_less-en-conj-Wi1mkACP Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Breton translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Romanian translations, Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 94 6 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 90 10 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 95 5 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 96 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Breton translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 87 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 87 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Romanian translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 85 15 Disambiguation of 'let alone': 99 1
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see much, less.
    Sense id: en-much_less-en-conj-oRtPhVVt
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          "ref": "1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xxi",
          "text": "Of the thing that sustains him through trials man has no inkling, much less knowledge, at the time."
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          "text": "1895. M.K. Gandhi, Petition to Natal Legislative Assembly\nIt is hopeless for him to return to India and expect to earn bread, much less to make a fortune."
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      "glosses": [
        "Let alone; to say nothing of, not to mention."
      ],
      "id": "en-much_less-en-conj-Wi1mkACP",
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          "Let alone",
          "let alone"
        ],
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          "to say nothing of",
          "to say nothing of"
        ],
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          "not to mention",
          "not to mention"
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        "(idiomatic) Let alone; to say nothing of, not to mention."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "never mind"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "lang_code": "ar",
          "roman": "nāhīka ʕan",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "نَاهِيكَ عَن"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "br",
          "lang": "Breton",
          "lang_code": "br",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "ne lavaran ket"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "gèng bùyòng shuō",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "更不用說 /更不用说"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "hékuàng",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "何況 /何况"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "vielä vähemmän"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "encore moins"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "nemhogy"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "meno che meno"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "lang_code": "ja",
          "roman": "mashiteya",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "況してや"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "nie mówiąc już o"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "a co dopiero"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "a tym bardziej"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "nemai vorbind"
        },
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "lang_code": "gd",
          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "gun luaidh"
        },
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          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
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          "sense": "let alone",
          "word": "än mindre"
        }
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see much, less."
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  "word": "much less"
}
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        "Let alone; to say nothing of, not to mention."
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        "(idiomatic) Let alone; to say nothing of, not to mention."
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          "word": "never mind"
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see much, less."
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    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ar",
      "roman": "nāhīka ʕan",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "نَاهِيكَ عَن"
    },
    {
      "code": "br",
      "lang": "Breton",
      "lang_code": "br",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "ne lavaran ket"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "gèng bùyòng shuō",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "更不用說 /更不用说"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "hékuàng",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "何況 /何况"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "vielä vähemmän"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "encore moins"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "nemhogy"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "meno che meno"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "roman": "mashiteya",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "況してや"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "nie mówiąc już o"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "a co dopiero"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "a tym bardziej"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "lang_code": "ro",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "nemai vorbind"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "lang_code": "gd",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "gun luaidh"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "let alone",
      "word": "än mindre"
    }
  ],
  "word": "much less"
}

Download raw JSONL data for much less meaning in English (4.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.