lenient
nounEtymology From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).
1
Medicine, Sciences A lenitive; an emollient.
lenient
adj/ˈliːni.ənt/
Etymology From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).
1
Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.
- The standard is fairly lenient, so use your discretion.
- But in other points, as well as this, I was growing very lenient to my master; I was forgetting all his faults, for which I had once kept a sharp look-out. It had formerly been my endeavour to study all sides of his character; to take the bad with the good; and from the just weighing of both, to form an equitable judgment. Now I saw no bad.1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XVIII, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- clement, easygoing, forbearing, indulgent, lax, lenient, loose-handed, permissible, permissive, relaxed, remissful, safe, soft, soft-handed
- Derived terms
- leniently, overlenient, superlenient, ultralenient, unlenient
- Related terms
- lenience, leniency, lenity, adespotic, apathetic, carefree, careless, loose, patient, weak
- Hypernyms
- moderate
- Hyponyms
- forgiving, latitudinarian, merciful, hypertolerant, overlax, overlenient, superlenient, ultralenient