lenient

Language: en

🇬🇧 /liːnɪənt/ 🇺🇸 /ˈliːniːənt/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Not strict or severe; tolerant and permissive, especially in dealing with people's mistakes or offenses.; Characterized by a tendency to be merciful or indulgent rather than harsh in judgment or punishment.; Mild or soothing; having a softening or alleviating effect (archaic usage).; Not rigorous or exacting in standards, requirements, or enforcement.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: more lenient Superlative: most lenient

Collocations

lenient withlenient sentencelenient punishmentlenient approachlenient judgelenient policy

Derivatives

leniencylenienceleniently

Synonyms

tolerantpermissiveindulgentmercifulclementforgiving

Antonyms

strictharshsevererigid

Commonly confused

lenitive
EN: 'Lenitive' means soothing or palliative (often medical), while 'lenient' means permissive or not strict in judgment.
leniency
EN: 'Leniency' is the noun form referring to the quality of being lenient; 'lenient' is the adjective.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember 'lenient' is spelled with '-ient' (not '-iant' or '-iant'). A common error is writing 'leniant'.

💬 Examples

  1. The judge was lenient and gave the first-time offender a suspended sentence.

  2. Her parents were lenient about her curfew, allowing her to stay out until midnight on weekends.

  3. The lenient balm eased the irritation on his skin.

  4. The company has a lenient dress code that allows employees to wear casual clothing.