Word.ws English Dictionary

none the less

none the less adverb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see none, the, less. Also the alternative form of nonetheless.

Adverb

none the less (not comparable)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see none, the, less.
    • These tales are written in an English dialect—none the less a dialect for that it lacks uniformity in the misplacement of aspirates, and lacks, too, strange words misunderstanded of the reader.1896 March, E[dith] Nesbit, In Homespun, London: John Lane, […]; Boston, Mass.: Roberts Bros., page v
    • One likes him none the less—rather, one likes him the more; since its faults are due to his very virtues.1903, William Macdonald, “[Notes to “Critical Essays”] Recollections of a Late Royal Academician (“Englishman’s Magazine,” September 1831)”, in Charles Lamb, Critical Essays, London: J[oseph]...

Also used as

none the less is also the alternative form of nonetheless.

Questions about none the less

What does none the less mean?
None the less means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see none, the, less.
What part of speech is none the less?
None the less is an adverb.

Words near none the less in the dictionary

  1. none of your bee's wax
  2. none of your bees' wax
  3. none of your beeswax
  4. none other than
  5. none taken
  6. none the less
  7. none the wiser
  8. none the worse
  9. none too soon
  10. none-so-pretties
  11. none-so-pretty

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: none the less (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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