lax

¹

[laks]

adjective

laxer, laxest 

1. not strict or severe; careless or negligent: a lax attitude toward discipline.

   lax morals;

   a lax attitude toward discipline.

2. loose or slack; not tense, rigid, or firm: a lax handshake.

   a lax rope;

   a lax handshake.

3. not rigidly exact or precise; vague.

   lax ideas.

4. open, loose, or not retentive, as diarrheal bowels.

5. (of a person) having the bowels unusually loose or open.

6. open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous.

   lax tissue;

   lax texture.

7. Phonetics.,  (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles.

lax

²

[laks]

noun

Informal.

1. lacrosse.

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

lax

/ læks /

adjective

1. lacking firmness; not strict

2. lacking precision or definition

3. not taut

4. 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

5. (of flower clusters) having loosely arranged parts

Other Word Forms

• laxly adverb
• laxness noun
• overlax adjective
• overlaxly adverb
• overlaxness noun
• laxity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lax¹

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 slack ¹

Origin of lax²

First recorded in 1970–75; la(crosse) ( def. ) + x ³ ( def. ) “a cross,” (in the sense cross ( def. ), a pun on crosse, the stick used in lacrosse)

Word History and Origins

Origin of lax¹

C14 (originally used with reference to the bowels): from Latin laxus loose

Example Sentences

Criticism has focused on lax security at the world's most-visited museum in the French capital.

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They regrouped in the second half and were able to capitalize on lax Colombian defending to grab the equalizer.

Read more on Barron's

Drivers are required to pay attention when FSD is enabled, although critics have said the software encourages users to be lax.

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Attorney Jay Clayton shows how to help cities with lax prosecutors.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That’s the result of lax New York state laws, prosecutors and judges.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• careless 
• indifferent 
• lenient 
• negligent 
• sloppy 
• soft 
• vague