lenient

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: le=ni=ent

CIDE DICTIONARY

lenient, a. [L. leniens, -entis, p. pr. of lenire to soften, fr. lenis soft, mild. Cf. Lithe.].

•  Relaxing; emollient; softening; assuasive; -- sometimes followed by of.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

  "Olenient, balsamic."  [1913 Webster]

  "Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand."  [1913 Webster]
•  Mild; clement; merciful; not rigorous or severe; as, a lenient disposition; a lenient judge or sentence.  [1913 Webster]

lenient, n. 

 A lenitive; an emollient.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

lenient, adj.
1 merciful, tolerant, not disposed to severity.
2 (of punishment etc.) mild.
3 archaic emollient.

Derivative

lenience n. leniency n. leniently adv.

Etymology

L lenire lenit- soothe f. lenis gentle

THESAURUS

lenient

Spartan, accepting, accommodating, accommodative, admissive, agreeable, allowing, armed with patience, attentive, balmy, bland, bleeding, careless, charitable, clement, commiserative, compassionate, complaisant, condolent, consenting, considerate, delicate, disciplined, easy, easygoing, endurant, enduring, faint, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, generous, gentle, heedful, helpful, human, humane, impotent, imprecise, indifferent, indulgent, kind, kindly, lax, long-suffering, longanimous, loose, magnanimous, melting, merciful, mild, mindful, mindful of others, moderate, negligent, nonprohibitive, obliging, overindulgent, overpermissive, patient, patient as Job, permissive, permitting, persevering, philosophical, pitying, regardful, relaxed, remiss, ruthful, self-controlled, slack, slipshod, sloppy, smooth, soft, softhearted, solicitous, sparing, stoic, suffering, sympathetic, sympathizing, tactful, tender, tenderhearted, thoughtful, tolerant, tolerating, tolerative, understanding, unprohibitive, unrestrained, warmhearted, weak

ROGET THESAURUS

lenient

Lenity

N lenity, lenience, leniency, moderation, tolerance, toleration, mildness, gentleness, favor, indulgence, indulgency, clemency, mercy, forbearance, quarter, compassion, lenient, mild, mild as milk, gentle, soft, tolerant, indulgent, easy-going, clement, forbearing, long-suffering.

Moderation

N moderation, lenity, temperateness, gentleness, sobriety, quiet, mental calmness, moderating, anaphrodisia, relaxation, remission, mitigation, tranquilization, assuagement, contemporation, pacification, measure, juste milieu, golden mean, ariston metron, moderator, lullaby, sedative, lenitive, demulcent, antispasmodic, carminative, laudanum, rose water, balm, poppy, opiate, anodyne, milk, opium, poppy or mandragora, wet blanket, palliative, moderate, lenient, gentle, mild, mellow, cool, sober, temperate, reasonable, measured, tempered, calm, unruffled, quiet, tranquil, still, slow, smooth, untroubled, tame, peaceful, peaceable, pacific, halcyon, unexciting, unirritating, soft, bland, oily, demulcent, lenitive, anodyne, hypnotic, sedative, antiorgastic, anaphrodisiac, mild as mother's milk, milk and water, moderately, gingerly, piano, under easy sail, at half speed, within bounds, within compass, in reason, est modue in rebus, pour oil on troubled waters.

Pity

N pity, compassion, commiseration, bowels, of compassion, sympathy, fellow-feeling, tenderness, yearning, forbearance, humanity, mercy, clemency, leniency, charity, ruth, long- suffering, melting mood, argumentum ad misericordiam, quarter, grace, locus paenitentiae, sympathizer, advocate, friend, partisan, patron, wellwisher, pitying, pitiful, compassionate, sympathetic, touched, merciful, clement, ruthful, humane, humanitarian, tender, tender hearted, tender as a chicken, soft, soft hearted, unhardened, lenient, exorable, forbearing, melting, weak, Int, for pity's sake!, mercy!, have mercy!, cry you mercy!, God help you!, poor thing!, poor dear!, poor fellow!, woe betide!, quis talia fando temperet a lachrymiss!, one's heart bleeding for, haud ignara mali miseris succurrere disco, a fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind, onor di bocca assai giova e poco costa.