Home UK English much less

Meaning of much less in English:

much less

phrase

(also still less)

  • Used to introduce something as being even less likely than something already mentioned.

    ‘what woman would consider a date with him, much less a marriage?’
    • ‘In poor countries with under-resourced police departments, enforcement is still less likely.’
    • ‘Lynch does not mention a battle, still less a location for one.’
    • ‘She does not acknowledge the tremendous task she has already embarked upon, still less what she has achieved.’
    • ‘The Green Paper does not even mention this issue, still less propose change.’
    • ‘Men are possibly more likely to be unwilling to report it, and are much less likely to be believed if they do.’
    • ‘This is likely to be still less problematic for nonmammalian vertebrates.’
    • ‘By 1867, this had become highly improbable, and still less likely by 1870.’
    • ‘I do not say that the Mirror could have known that a specific ‘reprisal’ would take place, still less that they wanted it to.’
    • ‘This is understandable enough - but the idea that the former should find it surprising, still less offensive, is anything but.’
    • ‘It is not about punishing councils, still less about forcing them to fund people who wait for services that are not their responsibility.’