Example sentences of "[modal v] [adv] [verb] be less " in BNC.
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| 1 | In sharp contrast , the circumstances faced by Merseyside Development Corporation ( MDC ) could hardly have been less propitious . |
| 2 | Far from possessing the tact and sensitivity required to construct a harmonious relationship with the English church and restore Mary 's subjects ' confidence in the papacy , Paul was a rigid , inflexible pontiff who could hardly have been less suited to the task of cementing the reunion of England and Rome . |
| 3 | He would probably have been less confused or surprised at the implementation of some of his other priorities . |
| 4 | Workers would probably have been less inclined to support them if their protests had met with reasoned discussion rather than tear gas . |
| 5 | If an Aplysia receives an alarming stimulus such as an electric shock on the tail , it then responds more readily to other stimuli ( such as prods to the siphon ) that it would otherwise have been less responsive to . |
| 6 | The elder Pinney , owner of the largest sugar plantations in Nevis , would certainly have been less pliable had he realized that his sons were allowing the new tenants to have Racedown rent-free ; but in the event he quickly warmed to the young poet , and welcomed him as a guest to the family 's town house in Bristol during the autumn of 1795 , the period which first brought Wordsworth into contact with both Coleridge and Southey.7sup18 ; |
| 7 | The Board of Trade 's official figure for 1892 was 20,000 and for 1893 , 15,000 but for the latter year it may actually have been less , little more than 12,000 . |
| 8 | Its population at this time can hardly have been less than 50,000 and may easily have been well over 60,000 . |