Lesser

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: less=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

Lesser, a. [This word is formed by adding anew the compar. suffix -er (in which r is from an original s) to less. See Less, a.].

 Less; smaller; inferior.  [1913 Webster]
" Lesser is used for less, now the compar. of little, in certain special instances in which its employment has become established by custom; as, Lesser Asia (i. e., Asia Minor), the lesser light, and some others; also in poetry, for the sake of the meter, and in prose where its use renders the passage more euphonious."  [1913 Webster]
"God made . . . the lesser light to rule the night."  [1913 Webster]
"The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace."  [1913 Webster]
"The larger here, and there the lesser lambs."  [1913 Webster]
"By the same reason may a man, in the state of nature, punish the lesser breaches of the law."  [1913 Webster]

Lesser, adv. 

 Less.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Lesser, adj. (usu. attrib.) not so great as the other or the rest (the lesser evil; the lesser celandine).

Etymology

double compar., f. LESS + -ER(3)

THESAURUS

Lesser

abated, ablated, attenuated, bated, belittled, common, consumed, contracted, curtailed, decreased, deflated, demeaning, diminished, dinky, disadvantaged, dissipated, dropped, eroded, fallen, humble, in the shade, inferior, infra dig, insignificant, junior, less, low, lower, lowered, lowly, miniaturized, minor, modest, nether, ordinary, reduced, retrenched, scaled-down, second rank, second string, secondary, servile, shorn, shorter, shrunk, shrunken, small, small-fry, small-time, smaller, sub, subaltern, subjacent, subject, subordinate, subservient, third rank, third string, under, underprivileged, vulgar, watered-down, weakened, worn

ROGET THESAURUS

Lesser

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.