permissive

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: per=mis=sive

CIDE DICTIONARY

permissive, a. 

•  Permitting; granting leave or liberty.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  Permitted; tolerated; suffered.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

permissive, adj.
1 tolerant; liberal, esp. in sexual matters (the permissive society).
2 giving permission.

Idiom

permissive legislation legislation giving powers but not enjoining their use.

Derivative

permissively adv. permissiveness n.

Etymology

ME f. OF (-if -ive) or med.L permissivus (as PERMIT)

THESAURUS

permissive

accommodating, accordant, acquiescent, admissive, affable, affirmative, agreeable, agreeing, allowing, amiable, approving, assenting, benevolent, benign, benignant, broad-minded, careless, complaisant, compliable, compliant, conditional, consentient, consenting, content, culpably negligent, decent, derelict, eager, easy, easygoing, endorsing, favorable, freethinking, generous, gracious, imperative, impotent, imprecise, inadvertent, inattentive, indicative, indifferent, indulgent, jussive, kind, kindly, laissez-faire, latitudinarian, lax, lenient, liberal, libertarian, libertine, loose, mode, mood, neglectful, neglecting, negligent, noninterfering, nonprohibitive, nonrestrictive, nothing loath, obligative, obliging, off-guard, open-minded, optative, overindulgent, overly permissive, overpermissive, permitting, potential, procrastinating, prompt, ratifying, ready, relaxed, remiss, sanctioning, scamping, skimping, slack, slighting, slipshod, sloppy, slurring, soft, subjunctive, submissive, suffering, tolerant, tolerating, unbigoted, uncircumspect, ungrudging, unguarded, unloath, unprohibitive, unrefusing, unreluctant, unrestrained, unrigorous, unwary, unwatchful, weak, willing

ROGET THESAURUS

permissive

Permission

N permission, leave, allowance, sufferance, tolerance, toleration, liberty, law, license, concession, grace, indulgence, favor, dispensation, exemption, release, connivance, vouchsafement, authorization, warranty, accordance, admission, permit, warrant, brevet, precept, sanction, authority, firman, hukm, pass, passport, furlough, license, carte blanche, ticket of leave, grant, charter, patent, letters patent, permitting, permissive, indulgent, permitted, patent, chartered, permissible, allowable, lawful, legitimate, legal, legalized, licit, unforbid, unforbidden, unconditional, by leave, with leave, on leave, speciali gratia, under favor of, pace, ad libitum, by all means, yes, avec permissin, brevet d'invention.