less

[lɛs]

/[lɛs]/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“less” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #30,180. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,180
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - weniger von etwas

Corpus desk

Index DE-less · less · German

less · rank #30,180 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,180
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH lesbischen

Nearest frequency peer: lesbischen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „less“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „less“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

less vs Los
25% similar
less vs let
50% similar
less vs lex
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for less
PropertyValue
Headwordless
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[lɛs]
Letters4
Frequency rank#30,180
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „less“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).lessliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „lesbischen“ (#30,179), „liber“ (#30,181), „Leiters“ (#30,178). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „less“ bei #30,180. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around less (IPA [lɛs]), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #30,180 among 2,640 “L” headwords. Dominant gloss: "weniger von etwas".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for less, with forms such as "elss", "les", and "leß". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Los", "let", "lex", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is less, spelled L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    weniger von etwas

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how less appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. You should work more and talk less.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elss
  • les
  • leß
  • lless
  • lses

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of less - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

elss2les1leß2lless1lses2
Edit distance from "less"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "less"?
"less" is spelled L-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is [lɛs].
What does "less" mean?
As an adverb, "less" means: weniger von etwas
What words are commonly confused with "less"?
"less" is commonly confused with "Los", "let", "lex". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "less"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "less" is [lɛs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "less" come from?
"less" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "less", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lago#30,165MESZ#30,200Milz#30,202path#30,231

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

Häme5 variantsPosse5 variantsFuge5 variantsdiez5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list