lesser

Universal Words adjective [onlybeforenoun] 1 not as great in size, amount or importance as sth/sb else: people of lesser importance * They were all involved to a greater or lesser degree (= some were more involved than others). * The law was designed to protect wives, and, to a lesser extent, children. * He was encouraged to plead guilty to the lesser offence. * (humorous) He doesn't even acknowledge us lesser mortals (= people who are not as important or powerful). * A lesser woman would have given up. 2 used in the names of some types of animals, birds and plants which are smaller than similar kinds: a lesser black-backed gull OPPGREATER lesser adverb: one of the lesser-known Caribbean islands IDIOMS the lesser of two evils