LESSER

[adjective] [before noun; not gradable]Lesser is used to describe something that is not as great in size, amount or importance as something else.A lesser man (= a man who was not as strong or brave) might have given up at that point.The charge of murder was altered to the lesser (= less serious) charge of manslaughter. [before noun]Ethiopia and, to a lesser extent/degree, Kenya will be badly affected by the drought.If something is the lesser of two evils it is bad, but not as bad as something else.He said that allowing a criminal to escape was the lesser of two evils when the alternative was imprisoning an innocent person. -less (WITHOUT) [suffix] - used to form adjectives meaning without (the thing mentioned)Something without meaning is meaningless.He has no friends at all - he is friendless.See study section: Suffixes