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.

The Attorney General's Office is considering whether Digwa's sentence should be referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme after receiving multiple requests.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

Last week, a judge in Moscow added two more years to the sentence, after ruling Davies' initial jail term was too lenient.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

Several Commerce Department inspector-general reports have criticized FirstNet Authority for holding AT&T to lenient network standards.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

But recently, prosecutors dropped charges against a third of the officers and are offering lenient plea deals to several others.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Wild was lenient with the men, knowing that being too strict would make their hard life even more unbearable.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Vocabulary lists containing lenient

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