much less

English

Conjunction

much less

1. (idiomatic) Let alone; to say nothing of.
   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xxi:

     Of the thing that sustains him through trials man has no inkling, much less knowledge, at the time.

   • 1919, Parker Hoysted Fillmore, The Three Citrons:

     Why, not even a little bird or a tiny butterfly comes here, much less a human being!

   • 1895. M.K. Gandhi, Petition to Natal Legislative Assembly

     It is hopeless for him to return to India and expect to earn bread, much less to make a fortune.

   • 1886, Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant:

     We had not at Chattanooga animals to pull a single piece of artillery, much less a supply train.

Usage notes

The idiomatic construction follows this form:

• "not [a small thing], much less [a bigger thing]" – "She was so poor that she had not a single coin, much less the large amount demanded."
• "not [to do a small thing], much less [to do a bigger thing]." – "He has broken his ankle. He can not even walk, much less run and jump".

Synonyms

• let alone
• not to mention

Translations

let alone

Arabic: نَاهِيكَ عَن (nāhīka ʕan) Breton: ne lavaran ket (br) Chinese: Mandarin: 更不用說 / 更不用说 (gèng bùyòng shuō), 何況 / 何况 (zh) (hékuàng) Finnish: vielä vähemmän French: encore moins Hungarian: nemhogy (hu) Italian: meno che meno Japanese: 況してや (mashiteya) Polish: nie mówiąc już (o), a co dopiero, a tym bardziej Romanian: nemai vorbind Scottish Gaelic: gun luaidh Swedish: än mindre

References

• “much (or still) less”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.