lenient

adjective

le·​nient ˈlē-nē-ənt 

-nyənt

1

: of mild and tolerant disposition or effect : not harsh, severe, or strict

lenient laws

a lenient attitude

2

: exerting a soothing or easing influence : relieving pain or stress

leniently adverb

Did you know?

Lenient comes from lenis, the Latin word for "soft" or "mild." It was originally applied to something soothing that relieved pain or stress; the related lenitive has the same meaning. Linguists also borrowed lenis to describe speech sounds that are softened—for instance, the "t" sound in gutter.

Examples of lenient in a Sentence

By giving one more person—the executive—the power to reduce (but not to increase) punishments, our constitutions (both Federal and state) seem to be sending an important message: that in a world in which errors are inevitable, it is better to err on the side of overly lenient, rather than overly harsh, punishment. —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.

Recent Examples on the Web

Californians have pushed back on the rise in crime, most notably by recalling, in 2022, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a left-wing prosecutor who favored a lenient approach to criem. —Jack Birle, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 2 Nov. 2024

In his four years as the district attorney in the nation’s second-largest city, progressive Gascón sought solutions for America’s mass incarceration dilemma that many deemed too lenient and said fueled lawlessness and led to crimes committed with impunity. —Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2024

In general, ancient Egypt had a more lenient perspective toward the legislative and legal position of women, but this was diminished in some capacity when the region became part of the Roman Empire in the first century B.C.E., Naether says. —Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2024

Others have accused Harris of going soft on criminals by approving lenient plea deals. —Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

lenient

adjective

le·​nient ˈlē-nē-ənt 

-nyənt

: being kind and patient

leniently adverb