Meanings
alternative let along · alternative yet alone
- idiomaticMuch less; to say nothing of; used after one negative clause to introduce another, usually broader and more important clause, whose negation is implied by the negation of the first. However either of these instances mentioned can be applied with the use of let alone.
He couldn't boil water, let alone prepare a dinner for eight.
1 more example
My last run this month is an amazing performance of an "A2/3" Pacific, No. 60524, Herringbone (could there possibly be a more infelicitous name for a locomotive than this, let alone for the unhappy horse which first had to bear it?), […].
1953 December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Performance and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 838 - idiomaticrareNot to mention, as well as; used after one item, to introduce a further item which is entailed by the first.
At the end of another ten years, let alone sixty, we are likely to see a very different pattern in the realm of British passenger locomotive power.
1957 July 28, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Performance and Performance during Sixty Years”, in Railway Magazine, page 496
present singular third person lets alone · participle present letting alone · alternative let along · alternative yet alone
- transitiveTo leave alone, let be; to stop bothering.
I wish he would let me alone so I could get some sleep.
Synonyms: leave alone
- colloquialdatedtransitiveTo rely on (a person) to do something.
Oh! let him alone for that. He's the boy that can get out of a scrape.
1838, Marguerite Countess of Blessington, The Works of Lady Blessington (page 223)1 more example
"It's not easy gettin' as good," rejoined the old woman, "an' you ought to be very glad to win him, if you can." "Let me alone for that," said Sally.
1849, William Carleton, Tales and Sketches, page 81
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo leave alone, let be; to stop bothering.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbmuch less
verbleave unchanged or undisturbed or refrain from taking
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic نَاهِيك
- نَاهِيك (nāhīk)to say nothing of
Bulgarian ка́мо ли
- ка́мо ли (kámo li)to say nothing of
Chinese Mandarin 更不用說 /更不用说, 何況 /何况
- 更不用說 /更不用说 (gèng bùyòng shuō)to say nothing of
- 何況 /何况 (hékuàng)to say nothing of
- 遑論 /遑论 (huánglùn)to say nothing of
Czech natož
- natožto say nothing of
Danish endnu mindre, endsige
- endnu mindreto say nothing of
- endsigeto say nothing of
- end mindreto say nothing of
Dutch laat staan, gezwegen van
- laat staanto say nothing of
- gezwegen vanto say nothing of
- om maar te zwijgen vanto say nothing of
- laat staanas well as
- met rust latenleave alone
Esperanto des malpli
- des malplito say nothing of
Finnish puhumattakaan, saati
- puhumattakaanto say nothing of
- saatito say nothing of
- saati sittento say nothing of
- puhumattakaanas well as
- saatias well as
- saati sittenas well as
- jättää rauhaanleave alone
French encore moins, et encore moins
- encore moinsto say nothing of
- et encore moinsto say nothing of
- sans compterto say nothing of
- sans parler deto say nothing of
- sans compteras well as
- sans parler deas well as
German geschweige denn, geschweige
- geschweige dennto say nothing of
- geschweigeto say nothing of
- geschweige dennas well as
Greek πόσο μάλλον
- πόσο μάλλον (póso mállon)to say nothing of
Hebrew קַל וָחֹמֶר, לא כֹּל שֶׁכֵּן
- קַל וָחֹמֶר (kal vaẖómer)to say nothing of
- לא כֹּל שֶׁכֵּן (lo kol shekén)to say nothing of
- עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה ('al aẖát kamma v'chamma)to say nothing of
Hungarian nemhogy, hát még
- nemhogyto say nothing of
- hát mégto say nothing of
- még kevésbéto say nothing of
- nem is beszélveto say nothing of
- végképpto say nothing of
Indonesian apalagi, apalagi
- apalagito say nothing of
- apalagias well as
Italian nonché, per non parlare di
- nonchéto say nothing of
- per non parlare dito say nothing of
- figuriamocito say nothing of
- così comeas well as
- come ancheas well as
Japanese どころか, もちろん
- どころか (dokoroka)to say nothing of
- もちろん (mochiron)to say nothing of
Korean 커녕
- 커녕 (keonyeong)to say nothing of
Latin nedum
- nedumto say nothing of
Norwegian enn si
- enn sito say nothing of
Persian چه برسه
- چه برسهto say nothing of
Polish co dopiero, nie mówiąc już o
- co dopieroto say nothing of
- nie mówiąc już oas well as
- zostawiać w spokojuleave alone
- zostawić w spokojuleave alone
Portuguese muito menos, quanto mais
- muito menosto say nothing of
- quanto maisto say nothing of
- que diráto say nothing of
- quem diráto say nothing of
- ainda maisas well as
Romanian darămite, ce să mai vorbim
- darămiteto say nothing of
- ce să mai vorbimto say nothing of
- nici vorbăto say nothing of
- ce să mai vorbimas well as
Russian не говоря́ уже́, тем бо́лее
- не говоря́ уже́to say nothing of
- тем бо́лееto say nothing of
Scottish Gaelic gun luaidh
- gun luaidhto say nothing of
Slovak a už vôbec nie, nehovoriac o
- a už vôbec nieto say nothing of
- nehovoriac oto say nothing of
- a samozrejmeas well as
Spanish y mucho menos, ni qué hablar de
- y mucho menosto say nothing of
- ni qué hablar deto say nothing of
- por no hablar deto say nothing of
- menos aúnto say nothing of
- así comoas well as
- sin contar conas well as
- además deas well as
- dejar en pazleave alone
- dejarleave alone
Swedish än mindre, och ännu mindre
- än mindreto say nothing of
- och ännu mindreto say nothing of
- lämna i fredleave alone
Turkish bırak
- bırakto say nothing of
Urdu چہ جائے کہ
- چہ جائے کہ (cih jā'ye kih)to say nothing of
Cite this entry
let alone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/let%20alone
“let alone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/let%20alone. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “let alone,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/let%20alone.
Source: let alone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.