Link Centre Dictionary

lenient

le·nient

UK/ˈliːni.ənt/ US/ˈlinjʌnt/ uncommon

adjective

1.

tolerant or lenient

  • “indulgent parents risk spoiling their children”
  • “procedures are lax and discipline is weak”
  • “too soft on the children”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

not strict

  • “an easy teacher”
  • “easy standards”
  • “lenient rules”
  • “an easy penalty”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

Origin

From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).

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Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.