malpli

Esperanto

Etymology

From mal- (“opposite of”) +‎ pli (“more”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmalpli/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -alpli
• Hyphenation: mal‧pli

Adverb

malpli

1. less

   Antonym: pli

   • 2025 September 29, Jorge Nogueras, “La plej mallonga tago”, in uea.facila‎, archived from the original on 12 December 2025:

     Novelo estas skribita rakonto, malpli longa ol romano.

     A novella is a written story, shorter than a novel.

     (literally, “A novella is a written story, less long than a novel.”)

Related terms

• malplej

Further reading

• “malpli”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “malpli”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-present
• Wells, John C. (1992), “pli, less, off”, in Concise Esperanto and English Dictionary‎, →ISBN, pages 129, 295, 319
• Benson, Peter J. (1995), “down, less”, in Comprehensive English-Esperanto Dictionary‎, →ISBN, pages 173, 297
• Butler, Montagu C. (1967), “pli”, in Esperanto-English Dictionary‎, →OL, pages 320-321