minus

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

prep. not having something; missing a part.

prep. deprived of or lacking a specific element or accompaniment.

“He returned from the beach minus his sunglasses.”

“The team arrived at the presentation minus their lead designer, who had been delayed by a cancelled flight.”

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun

n. a bad point or a disadvantage of a situation.

n. a negative quality, drawback, or disadvantage.

“The house is beautiful, but the long commute is a big minus.”

“When weighing the job offer, she considered the high salary a plus, but the lack of remote work options was a significant minus.”

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Mathematics

n. the sign (−) used in math to show subtraction or negative numbers.

n. the mathematical character or symbol representing the operation of subtraction or a negative value.

“You forgot to put a minus in front of the number.”

“The student consistently confused the hyphen with the minus sign in his calculus homework.”

A2 · Elementary

adj. used to describe temperatures or numbers that are less than zero.

adj. pertaining to a quantity less than zero on a specific scale.

“The temperature dropped to minus ten degrees last night.”

“The company reported a minus figure for the third quarter, indicating a net loss rather than a profit.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

adj. used after a letter grade to show it is slightly lower than that grade.

adj. ranking just below a designated letter grade or rating.

“She was disappointed to get a B minus on her essay.”

“The credit agency downgraded the country's rating from A to A minus following the economic crisis.”