Not really, since Python can nest functions: def something(x): def myfunc(y, z): ... return result reduce(myfunc, x) So the difference i

Not really, since Python can nest functions: def something(x): def myfunc(y, z): ... return result reduce(myfunc, x) So the difference is like having to write x = some_very_complex_expression_that_can_get_quite_long some_function(x) instead of some_function(some_very_complex_expression_that_can_get_quite_long) In many cases this may make code even more readable. I'm not saying that Python's lambdas are perfect as they are or that multi-line lambdas would be a bad thing. I'm just saying it's not as bad as you paint it.