lenient
adjective
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Examples of lenient in a Sentence
Alan M. Dershowitz, New York Times Book Review, 16 July 1989
He could trust himself, he said … to be more lenient than perhaps his father had been to himself; his danger, he said … would be rather in the direction of being too indulgent …
—Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, 1903
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.
—Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847
a teacher who is lenient with students who have misbehaved
Many people felt that the punishment was too lenient.
Chloe Berger, Fortune, 30 Nov. 2023
My mom was always really lenient with my choice of expressions.
—Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 14 Oct. 2023
The number of people charged in federal court for simple possession of marijuana has fallen swiftly in recent years, as policymakers and Americans more broadly have embraced more lenient views about the drug.
—Toluse Olorunnipa, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023
That’s in part because California has allowed schools and districts to use the state’s more lenient minimum graduation requirements, rather than districts’ own requirements, due to the pandemic.
—Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec. 2023
Many tech companies sell products and services to China and have pushed for more lenient rules in order to retain access to a large and growing market.
—Ana Swanson, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2023
Recently, many companies such as Zara, H&M;, and even Amazon changed their return policies to be far less lenient by charging for returns or shortening return windows.
—Heather Hoover-Salomon, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2023
Each has accused the other of being lenient towards China, citing their actions and policies during their tenures as governors.
—Will Steakin, ABC News, 8 Nov. 2023
One reason, department observers say, is that officers are increasingly having their disciplinary hearings before all-civilian panels, who routinely hand down more lenient punishments than those recommended by LAPD Chief Michel Moore.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lenient.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Latin lenient-, leniens, present participle of lenire to soften, soothe, from lenis soft, mild; probably akin to Lithuanian lėnas tranquil — more at let entry 1
1652, in the meaning defined at sense 2
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“Lenient.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lenient. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.
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