Meanings
comparative more lenient · superlative most lenient
- Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.
The standard is fairly lenient, so use your discretion.
1 more example
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. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLCSynonyms: clement, permissive, forgiving, relaxed, clement, merciable, mercied, merciful · Antonyms: strict, severe, stringent, unlenient
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveLax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivetolerant or lenient
adjectivenot strict
adjectivecharacterized by tolerance and mercy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlēniēns
- Middle Frenchlénient
- Englishlenient
From Middle French lénient, from Latin lēniēns (whence -i- + -ent), present participle of lēnīre (“to soften, soothe”), from lēnis (“soft”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian снизходителен
- снизходителен (snizhoditelen)tolerant; not strict
Chinese Mandarin 宽大, 宽松
- 宽大 (kuāndà)tolerant; not strict
- 宽松 (kuānsōng)tolerant; not strict
Czech shovívavý
- shovívavýtolerant; not strict
Danish mild, overbærende
- mildtolerant; not strict
- overbærendetolerant; not strict
- lempeligtolerant; not strict
Dutch toegeeflijk, tolerant
- toegeeflijktolerant; not strict
- toleranttolerant; not strict
- mildtolerant; not strict
Esperanto malsevera
- malseveratolerant; not strict
Finnish lempeä
- lempeätolerant; not strict
French indulgent, permissif
- indulgenttolerant; not strict
- permissiftolerant; not strict
- laxistetolerant; not strict
German nachsichtig, milde
- nachsichtigtolerant; not strict
- mildetolerant; not strict
Greek επιεικής
- επιεικής (epieikís)tolerant; not strict
Indonesian lunak
- lunaktolerant; not strict
Italian permissivo, tollerante
- permissivotolerant; not strict
- tollerantetolerant; not strict
- indulgentetolerant; not strict
Latin clēmēns
- clēmēnstolerant; not strict
Māori ngāwari
- ngāwaritolerant; not strict
Polish pobłażliwy, wyrozumiały
- pobłażliwytolerant; not strict
- wyrozumiałytolerant; not strict
- łagodnytolerant; not strict
Portuguese leniente
- lenientetolerant; not strict
Romanian tolerant, tolerantă
- toleranttolerant; not strict
- tolerantătolerant; not strict
- indulgenttolerant; not strict
- blândtolerant; not strict
- îngăduitortolerant; not strict
Russian снисходи́тельный, мя́гкий
- снисходи́тельный (snisxodítelʹnyj)tolerant; not strict
- мя́гкий (mjáxkij)tolerant; not strict
- терпи́мый (terpímyj)tolerant; not strict
Scottish Gaelic tròcaireach
- tròcaireachtolerant; not strict
Spanish leniente, de manga ancha
- lenientetolerant; not strict
- de manga anchatolerant; not strict
Swedish skonsam
- skonsamtolerant; not strict
Thai ปรานี
- ปรานี (bpraa-nii)tolerant; not strict
Turkish hoşgörülü, müsamahakâr
- hoşgörülütolerant; not strict
- müsamahakârtolerant; not strict
- müşfiktolerant; not strict
Ukrainian невимо́гливий, виба́чливий
- невимо́гливий (nevymóhlyvyj)tolerant; not strict
- виба́чливий (vybáčlyvyj)tolerant; not strict
Cite this entry
lenient. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lenient
“lenient.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lenient. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lenient,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lenient.
Source: lenient on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.