the less harmful or unpleasant of two bad choices or possibilities两害之较轻者;两种不愉快中较小者
英语四级真题
The high cost of steam and the lesser need for speed kept the majority of the world's ocean freight moving by sail until the early years of the 20th century.
出自-2014年6月阅读原文
英语六级真题
The Cascadia Earthquake Zone is big enough to compete with San Andreas it's been called the most dangerous fault in Americ, but it's much lesser known than its California cousin.
2019年12月六级真题(第一套)阅读 Section C
柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典释义
ADJ-COMPAR
较少的;较轻的;较小的
You use lesser in order to indicate that something is smaller in extent, degree, or amount than another thing that has been mentioned.