less and less

det

"less-and-less" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“less and less” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a determiner. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - increasingly less

Key facts for less and less
PropertyValue
Headwordless and less
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechDeterminer
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “less and less” sits in English frequency

less and less falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

less and less is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as adeterminer. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "increasingly less".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for less and less, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is less and less, spelled L-E-S-S- -A-N-D- -L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    increasingly less

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "less and less"?
"less and less" is spelled L-E-S-S- -A-N-D- -L-E-S-S.
What does "less and less" mean?
As a determiner, "less and less" means: increasingly less
What language does "less and less" come from?
"less and less" is a English 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.

Using “less and less”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-E-S-S- -A-N-D- -L-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list