lenient

[lee-nee-uhnt, leen-yuhnt] / ˈli ni ənt, ˈlin yənt /

ADJECTIVE

permissive

Synonyms

STRONGEST

benign compassionate compliant forgiving indulgent sympathetic tolerant

WEAK

allowing amiable assuaging assuasive being big benignant charitable clement complaisant condoning easy easygoing emollient excusing favoring forbearing gentle going easy on good-natured humoring kind kindly letting live with loving merciful mild mollycoddling obliging pampering pardoning permitting soft soft-shell softhearted sparing spoiling tender yielding

Antonyms

STRONGEST

hateful merciless

WEAK

hard intolerant limiting restrictive rigorous severe

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Companies are pursuing larger deals, with some seeing an opportunity in a more lenient antitrust environment.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Slap them with a small fine if you must but free the prisoners who clearly meant no harm. Be fair and lenient with people who genuinely support the UAE. Let it be over," she wrote.

From BBC

At one point, the judge even scolded the officers for being too lenient with her.

From The Wall Street Journal

Airlines might be more lenient when processing flight changes right now, but passengers shouldn’t expect a cash refund just because they were stuck at a security checkpoint.

From MarketWatch

He was named to once again take over the national-security council after his predecessor, Ali Shamkhani, was accused by paramilitary forces of being too lenient with protests that erupted in 2022.

From The Wall Street Journal

lenient

Example Sentences

Related Words