Antonyms for fewer


Grammar : Adj
Spell : fyoo-er
Phonetic Transcription : ˈfyu ər


Definition of fewer

Origin :
  • Old English feawe (plural; contracted to fea) "few, seldom, even a little," from Proto-Germanic *faw-, from PIE root *pau- (1) "few, little" (cf. Latin paucus "few, little," paullus "little," parvus "little, small," pauper "poor;" Greek pauros "few, little," pais (genitive paidos) "child;" Latin puer "child, boy," pullus "young animal;" Oscan puklu "child;" Sanskrit potah "a young animal," putrah "son;" Old English fola "young horse;" Old Norse fylja "young female horse;" Old Church Slavonic puta "bird;" Lithuanian putytis "young animal, young bird"). Always plural in Old English.
  • Phrase few and far between attested from 1660s. Unusual ironic use in quite a few "many" (1883), earlier a good few (1828). The noun is late 12c., fewe, from the adjective.
  • Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. [Winston Churchill, 1940]
  • adj hardly any
Example sentences :
  • No fewer than 12,000 persons had perished in the sandjak of Philippopolis!
  • Extract from : « The Grand Old Man » by Richard B. Cook
  • The fewer the marriageable girls, the higher their market value.
  • Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 8, May 21, 1870 » by Various
  • There could not be fewer than five hundred people, and they were dancing like five thousand demons.
  • Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens
  • To this effect, in as few or fewer words, the Public Prosecutor.
  • Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens
  • And the greater the success, the fewer are the signs of the labour expended.
  • Extract from : « A Dish Of Orts » by George MacDonald
  • His industry may be inferred from the number of his engravings and etchings, of which he left not fewer than 1600.
  • Extract from : « Self-Help » by Samuel Smiles
  • And again, if you consider the world, by how few understood, and praised by fewer!
  • Extract from : « The Praise of Folly » by Desiderius Erasmus
  • Carlyle's theory of "Hero Worship" has fewer adherents than for half a century.
  • Extract from : « The American Mind » by Bliss Perry
  • We had fewer specialists, and our equipment was probably inferior.
  • Extract from : « With Manchesters in the East » by Gerald B. Hurst
  • The fewer patients he had, the more time he could devote to his favourite sciences.
  • Extract from : « The Fortune of the Rougons » by Emile Zola

Synonyms for fewer

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019