permissive

adjective

per·mis·sive | \ pər-ˈmi-siv

Definition of permissive

1 archaic : granted on sufferance : tolerated

2a : granting or tending to grant permission : tolerant

b : deficient in firmness or control : indulgent, lax

3 : allowing discretion : optional reduced the permissive retirement age from 65 to 62

4 : supporting growth or genetic replication (as of a virus) permissive host cells

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Examples of permissive in a Sentence

Some states have more permissive laws than others.

Recent Examples on the Web

But companies are already lobbying for more permissive rules. — Ian Austen, The Seattle Times, "Dreams of big profits as marijuana becomes legal in Canada," 16 Oct. 2018 Meanwhile, throughout the decades of Trump’s rise, the legal climate has only gotten more permissive. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Seriously, we need to see Donald Trump’s tax returns," 3 Oct. 2018 Developers prefer to take advantage of permissive codes for new construction rather than restore historic buildings. — Catherine Elton, WSJ, "A Bohemian Neighborhood in Peru Gets a Luxury Lift," 10 Jan. 2019 However, European laws are generally less permissive than the sweeping powers of the First Amendment, which generally permits hate speech. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "French investigators to work directly with Facebook to monitor hate speech," 12 Nov. 2018 Some parents are more permissive, or are engaged with pop culture in a way that lets them experience it alongside their own children. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "I didn’t read Harry Potter when I was growing up. And I wasn’t alone.," 31 Aug. 2018 Microsoft has now officially dubbed it the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, and plans to roll it out to Insiders next week alongside more permissive user controls than ever before. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft will ship the Windows 10 May 2019 Update in late May, giving you power over updates," 4 Apr. 2019 What’s more, the larger progressive push for a revival and reinvigoration of antitrust enforcement is an important corrective to a regulatory landscape that has become much too permissive in the 21st century. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Why criticism of Amazon isn’t sticking," 11 Dec. 2018 Tumblr has been noted for having a permissive attitude towards NSFW and adult-orientated content on its service, which has previously caused it to be briefly banned in Indonesia. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Tumblr was removed from Apple’s App Store over child pornography issues," 20 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'permissive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

23 May 2019

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The first known use of permissive was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for permissive

permissive

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of permissive

often disapproving : giving people a lot of freedom or too much freedom to do what they want to do

See the full definition for permissive in the English Language Learners Dictionary

permissive

adjective

per·mis·sive | \ pər-ˈmis-iv

Medical Definition of permissive

: supporting growth or genetic replication (as of a virus) permissive temperatures permissive monkey cells

permissive

adjective

per·mis·sive

Legal Definition of permissive

1 : based on or having permission permissive occupancy a permissive user of the vehicle

2 : granting permission or discretion (as to the court) a permissive statute

3 : not compulsory: as

a : allowed or made under a standard, rule, or provision that permits discretion or an option — see also permissive intervention at intervention, permissive presumption at presumption — compare compulsory

b : allowed under modern rules of civil procedure although not arising from the same transaction or occurrence as the one at issue in the original claim a permissive counterclaim — see also permissive joinder at joinder