conj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ənˈlɛs/
/ʌnˈlɛs/
Northern-England:/ʊnˈlɛs/
US, nonstandard:/ɪnˈlɛs/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛs
CMU ARPABET:AH0 N L EH1 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
conj
Meaning 1
Except on a specified condition; if not.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
I’m leaving unless I get a pay rise.
You can't go out unless it stops raining.
Unless part of the staff, you are not allowed beyond this point.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
conj
Meaning 2
If not; used with counterfactual conditionals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
conj
Meaning 3
Except if; used with hypothetical conditionals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English unlesse, earlier on lesse (modern on + less), from (not) on lesse (than) (“(not) on a less compelling condition (than)”). The quality of negation in the word and the lack of stress changed on to un-.
Across languages
Translations
100 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
tensy
— except on a specified condition
Albanian:
po të mos
— except on a specified condition
Amharic:
በስተቀር
(bästäḳär)
— except on a specified condition
Arabic:
إِلَّا
(ʔillā)
— except on a specified condition
Aramaic:
ܐܠܐ
(ʾellā)
— except on a specified condition
Armenian:
եթե չ-
(etʻe čʻ-)
— except on a specified condition
Azerbaijani:
əgər
— except on a specified condition
Basque:
salbu
— except on a specified condition
Belarusian:
калі́ не
(kalí nje)
— except on a specified condition
Bengali:
না হলে
— except on a specified condition
Bulgarian:
освен ако
(osven ako)
— except on a specified condition
Burmese:
မဟုတ်လျှင်
(ma.huthlyang)
— except on a specified condition
Catalan:
a menys que
— except on a specified condition
Catalan:
llevat que
— except on a specified condition
Catalan:
tret que
— except on a specified condition
Catalan:
fora que
— except on a specified condition
Chinese Cantonese:
除非
(ceoi4 fei1)
— except on a specified condition
Chinese Mandarin:
除非
(chúfēi)
— except on a specified condition
Ngazidja Comorian:
illa
— except on a specified condition
Czech:
dokud ne
— except on a specified condition
Danish:
medmindre
— except on a specified condition
Danish:
undtagen
— except on a specified condition
Dutch:
tenzij
— except on a specified condition
Esperanto:
krom se
— except on a specified condition
Esperanto:
kondiĉe ke ... ne
— except on a specified condition
Estonian:
kui ei
— except on a specified condition
Faroese:
uttan
— except on a specified condition
Finnish:
ellei
— except on a specified condition
Finnish:
jollei
— except on a specified condition
French:
à moins que
— except on a specified condition
French:
sauf si
— except on a specified condition
Georgian:
თუ არ
(tu ar)
— except on a specified condition
German:
es sei denn
— except on a specified condition
Greek:
εκτός αν
(ektós an)
— except on a specified condition
Greek:
παρά μόνο αν
(pará móno an)
— except on a specified condition
Ancient Greek:
εἰ μή
(ei mḗ)
— except on a specified condition
Gujarati:
જ્યાં સુધી
(jyā̃ sudhī)
— except on a specified condition
Hawaiian:
ke ole
— except on a specified condition
Hebrew:
אלמלא
(ilmalé)
— except on a specified condition
Hebrew:
אלא אם כן
(ela im ken)
— except on a specified condition
Hindi:
जब तक
(jab tak)
— except on a specified condition
Hungarian:
hacsak nem
— except on a specified condition
Hungarian:
kivéve ha
— except on a specified condition
Hungarian:
csak ha
— except on a specified condition
Icelandic:
nema
— except on a specified condition
Indonesian:
kecuali
— except on a specified condition
Irish:
mura
— except on a specified condition
Old Irish:
mani
— except on a specified condition
Italian:
a meno che
— except on a specified condition
Italian:
se non
— except on a specified condition
Japanese:
もし...でなければ
(moshi ... de nakereba)
— except on a specified condition
Khmer:
លុះត្រាតែ
(luh traa tae)
— except on a specified condition
Korean:
...이 아니면
(...i animyeon)
— except on a specified condition
Central Kurdish:
مەگەر
(meger)
— except on a specified condition
Latin:
nisi
— except on a specified condition
Malay:
melainkan
— except on a specified condition
Malayalam:
അല്ലാതെ
(allāte)
— except on a specified condition
Maltese:
kemm-il darba
— except on a specified condition
Māori:
māna
— except on a specified condition
Mongolian:
үгүй бол
(ügüj bol)
— except on a specified condition
Norwegian:
hvis ikke
— except on a specified condition
Norwegian Bokmål:
med mindre
— except on a specified condition
Norwegian Nynorsk:
med mindre
— except on a specified condition
Norwegian Nynorsk:
minders
— except on a specified condition
Norwegian Nynorsk:
minder
— except on a specified condition
Occitan:
mens que
— except on a specified condition
Old English:
būtan
— except on a specified condition
Old Norse:
nema
— except on a specified condition
Pashto:
پرته لدې چې
— except on a specified condition
Persian:
مگر اینکه
(magar inke)
— except on a specified condition
Polish:
chyba że
— except on a specified condition
Portuguese:
a menos que
— except on a specified condition
Portuguese:
a não ser que
— except on a specified condition
Romanian:
cu excepția cazului în
— except on a specified condition
Russian:
е́сли не
(jésli ne)
— except on a specified condition
Russian:
ра́зве что
(rázve što)
— except on a specified condition
Rwanda-Rundi:
keretse
— except on a specified condition
Serbo-Croatian:
osim ako
— except on a specified condition
Serbo-Croatian:
ukoliko ne
— except on a specified condition
Serbo-Croatian:
ako ne
— except on a specified condition
Sinhalese:
නම් මිස
(nam misa)
— except on a specified condition
Slovene:
razen če
— except on a specified condition
Spanish:
a menos que
— except on a specified condition
Spanish:
a no ser que
— except on a specified condition
Spanish:
salvo
— except on a specified condition
Spanish:
como no
— except on a specified condition
Swedish:
om inte
— except on a specified condition
Swedish:
såvida inte
— except on a specified condition
Tamil:
தவிர
(tavira)
— except on a specified condition
Tatar:
мәгәр
(mägär)
— except on a specified condition
Telugu:
తప్ప
(tappa)
— except on a specified condition
Thai:
เว้นแต่
(wêntæ̀)
— except on a specified condition
Thai:
จนกว่า
(cnkẁā)
— except on a specified condition
Turkish:
-mezse
— except on a specified condition
Ukrainian:
якщо́ не
(jakščó ne)
— except on a specified condition
Ukrainian:
хіба що
(xiba ščo)
— except on a specified condition
Vietnamese:
trừ phi
— except on a specified condition
Vietnamese:
trừ khi
— except on a specified condition
Welsh:
oni
— except on a specified condition
Yiddish:
סײַדן
(saydn)
— except on a specified condition
