another word for lest

Question

Whats another word for "lest" in english. I mean a word that could be easily understood in english.

I asked someone what lest meant and they said this.

whats "lest" mean?

Lo podrías traducir como "no sea que"

Answer 1

so that ( negative phrase only) . I did it lest anything awful should occur. Lo hice para que nada horible pasaría.

unless. Do your shoelaces up, lest you want to stumble . I advice you to have this vaccination lest you want to contract malaria.

To be honest, lest sounds so oldfashioned that you've really made me struggle to think up some examples. It's not used that often now:

But. we celebrate Remembrance day lest we forget.. ( so that we do'nt forget) . That one is in use.

I like your use of “unless.” Sometimes this works. And it’s probably a little bit easier to think of it this way. - brian5764, Mar 14, 2013

Thanks! - annierats, Mar 14, 2013

Answer 2

This is a hard word to explain. Straight out of dictionary.com:

1. for fear that; so that (one) should not (used negatively to introduce a clause expressive of an action or occurrence requiring caution): He kept his notes by his side lest faulty memory lead him astray.

2. that (used after words expressing fear, danger, etc.): There was danger lest the plan become known.

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Lest is rather old-fashioned. It’s not used much anymore. By the way, it’s not pronounced like least, with a long e. The vowel sound is a short e, like the e in el.

Yes, I just added to your answer, because I started to think.. - annierats, Mar 14, 2013

Answer 3

I always substituted " in case", and it seemed to work for me.

I think that’s a good idea as well. I mean, in addition to “unless.” - brian5764, Mar 14, 2013

Answer 4

I agree it is a hard term toidentify but in can mean "no sea que" or "en caso de". Here's what they mean: "no sea que" - "it's not that; don't be that" "en caso de" - "in case of" That's what I believe is right.