adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A lenitive; an emollient.

Adjective

1. 1
   Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.

   "The standard is fairly lenient, so use your discretion."

Adjective

1. 1
   characterized by tolerance and mercy wordnet
2. 2
   not strict wordnet
3. 3
   tolerant or lenient wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

clementindulgentlaxacceptingaccommodatingaccommodative

Antonyms

All antonyms

hardhandedseveresternstrict

Example

More examples

"He tended to be lenient toward the children."

Etymology

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

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.