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lax

1
[ laks ]
/ læks /
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See synonyms for: lax / laxes / laxness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, lax·er, lax·est.
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Origin of lax

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin laxus “loose, spacious, wide”; akin to languēre “to be sluggish, faint, unwell”; cognate with Old English slæc slack1

OTHER WORDS FROM lax

Other definitions for lax (2 of 2)

lax2
[ laks ]
/ læks /

noun Informal.
lacrosse: To handle my course load, I know I have to cut back on extracurricular activities, but no way am I giving up lax.

Origin of lax

2
First recorded in 1970–75; la(crosse) + x3 “a cross,” (in the sense cross, a pun on crosse, the stick used in lacrosse)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lax in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lax

lax
/ (læks) /

adjective
lacking firmness; not strict
lacking precision or definition
not taut
phonetics (of a speech sound) pronounced with little muscular effort and consequently having relatively imprecise accuracy of articulation and little temporal duration. In English the vowel i in bit is lax
(of flower clusters) having loosely arranged parts

Derived forms of lax

laxly, adverblaxity or laxness, noun

Word Origin for lax

C14 (originally used with reference to the bowels): from Latin laxus loose
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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