leniency

Also le·ni·ence

[lee-nee-uhn-see, leen-yuhn-]

noun

plural

leniencies 

1. the quality or state of being lenient.

2. a lenient act.

Word History and Origins

Origin of leniency¹

First recorded in 1770–80; leni(ent) + -ency

Example Sentences

At least 240 people were charged with treason after the protests, but the president later sought to ease tension and asked prosecutors to "show leniency".

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This plan would see 25% of their debts written off and more than £4bn of new cash injected, but will require years of leniency on fines for pollution incidents.

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As well as the commission of inquiry, President Samia has also asked prosecutors to "show leniency" towards those arrested in connection with the violence.

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She ran on a return to leniency for lawbreakers.

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The review, commissioned from the consultancy HR Rewired, concluded that darker-skinned Met staff were "labelled confrontational" while lighter-skinned employees might receive quicker empathy and leniency.

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Related Words

• compassion 
• mercy 
• tolerance 

When To Use

What does leniency mean?

Leniency is the quality of being lenient—permissive or merciful, as opposed to strict or harsh.When you’re lenient with someone, you go easy on them. The word sometimes implies that maybe you’re going too easy, and should be more strict. On the other hand, if someone thinks a person is being too strict, such as when disciplining a child, they may tell them to be more lenient.A person, an action, or a policy can show or have the quality of leniency. The word is especially used in the context of punishments, especially official ones like prison sentences. In this case, it’s often used to imply that such a punishment is not severe enough in the opinion of the speaker.A less common variant of leniency is lenience.Example: In my opinion, they’ve shown far too much leniency with his punishment—I think he’s getting off too easy.