MORE OR LESS

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct

Example:

20 or so people were at the party

Synonyms:

about; approximately; around; close to; just about; more or less; or so; roughly; some

Classified under:

Adverbs

Sense 2

Meaning:

To a small degree or extent

Example:

the children argued because one slice of cake was slightly larger than the other

Synonyms:

more or less; slightly; somewhat

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

Context examples:

Asteroids and comets are considered more or less pristine remnants from our solar system's formation, and many meteorites are prized samples from asteroids that happen to be conveniently delivered to Earth.

(Vitamin B3 might have been made in space, delivered to Earth by meteorites, NASA)

It was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly; while two or three fools more or less would not alter the scheme of things.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It does not follow that a deep, intricate character is more or less estimable than such a one as yours.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The iris helps control the size of the pupil to let more or less light into the eye.

(Iris, NCI Dictionary)

The rest is all a more or less incoherent dream.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A small bundle of nerve fibers that is more or less associated functionally.

(Fascicle, NCI Thesaurus)

Gardening, walks, rows on the river, and flower hunts employed the fine days, and for rainy ones, they had house diversions, some old, some new, all more or less original.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Some practitioners use colored pencils or crayons to allow patients to color code areas of more or less severe pain.

(Pain Map, NCI Thesaurus)

Because of this, it's challenging to target a specific region of the moon's surface, and most of Cassini's previous close approaches have encountered more or less the same familiar side of the craggy moon.

(Cassini Prepares for Last Up-close Look at Hyperion, NASA)

“Half an hour more or less can make no difference to you, and the gentleman was about to give us an account of this very interesting affair, which might aid us in clearing it up.”