much more

much more, much less, still more, still less

The principles, much more the practice, need a good deal of scrutiny. I didn't even see him, still less talk to him. Much more (or still more) is used when the grammatical form of the sentence is positive, and much less (or still less) when it is negative. Uncertainty arises when the form is positive but the sense is negative, as with adjectives in un- and words like difficult. In the sentence It is difficult to establish all the facts, much less to reach a conclusion, much more is strictly needed, not much less, but the result is awkward and an alternative such as let alone is often preferred.