lenity

len·i·ty

noun \ˈle-nə-tē\

Definition of LENITY

: the quality or state of being lenient : clemency

Examples of LENITY

1. <a social critic who argues that judicial lenity is chiefly to blame for the increased criminality that plagues us>

First Known Use of LENITY

1548

Related to LENITY

Synonyms: charity, clemency, forbearance, lenience, leniency, mercy, mercifulness, quarter

Related Words: humanitarianism, philanthropy; empathy, pity, sympathy, understanding; commiseration, favor, grace; benevolence, care, compassion, gentleness, goodness, goodwill, humaneness, kindliness, kindness, meekness, mildness, niceness, softness, tenderness; altruism, generosity, magnanimity, nobility; affection, devotion, love, worship

Near Antonyms: hard-heartedness, mercilessness, pitilessness, ruthlessness, uncharitableness; reprisal, requital, retaliation, retribution, revenge, vengeance; venom, vindictiveness, virulence, vitriol; atrocity, barbarity, brutality, cruelty, sadism, savageness, savagery, truculence, viciousness, violence, wantonness; castigation, chastisement, discipline, punishment, scolding; abhorrence, abomination, detestation, execration, hate, hatred, loathing; cattiness, malevolence, malice, maliciousness, malignancy, malignity, meanness, nastiness, spite, spitefulness, spleen; animosity, antagonism, antipathy, bitterness, enmity, gall, grudge, hostility, jealousy, pique, resentment; bile, jaundice, rancor; hatefulness, invidiousness; coarseness, hardness, harshness, roughness

[+]more[-]hide