permit
Usage
What are other ways to say permit?
Both verbs that imply granting or conceding the right of someone to do something, permit and allow are often interchangeable, but permit is the more positive of the two. Permit suggests formal or implied assent or authorization. Allow implies complete absence of an attempt, or even an intent, to hinder. Let is the familiar, conversational term for both allow and permit.
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.
California law says its voter-ID rules “shall be liberally construed to permit voters and new registrants to cast a regular ballot.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
It does not, for example, permit wall hangings that don’t actually exist.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
Now Brussels has updated its rules after the UK's departure, allowing all EU countries to permit non-citrus spreads to be marketed as "marmalade" from June.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
Under the EU’s emissions-trading system, or ETS, companies whose operations emit climate-changing carbon dioxide must pay for a permit for each metric ton they emit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Finally I grabbed the phone off the front hall table and carried it as far as the cord would permit, which left me at the entrance to the living room.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
