How to Use lenient in a Sentence

lenient

adjective

• Many people felt that the punishment was too lenient.
• Her lawyers hope that her plea will make the court more lenient.
  — New York Times, 27 July 2022
• Again, no outcry about whether her sentence was too lenient.
  — Doug Friednash, Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2026
• Counties are allowed to adopt rules that are stricter than the state’s, but not more lenient.
  — Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2022
• Netflix has been lenient in other ways.
  — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Oct. 2025
• Such is the lenient envy with which age regards the idleness of youth.
  — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2021
• Just as the Grammys are being too lenient, this is too strict.
  — Paul Grein, Billboard, 25 Jan. 2022
• Even that punishment would be too lenient.
  — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2026
• Foglesong also noted that the old system may have been too lenient.
  — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 9 May 2023
• Banks have been instructed to be lenient with loan defaults too.
  — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2020
• With more people working from home, guests may be more lenient with their schedules.
  — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 4 July 2024
• Stevens said the deal was too lenient, given the years Handy's victims spent in prison.
  — Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 28 May 2021
• Some state agencies and schools have been more lenient, giving large swaths of their workforce a pass.
  — oregonlive, 17 Oct. 2021
• Although some denounced the charges as too lenient, protests were peaceful.
  — The Enquirer, 8 Apr. 2021
• Given the size of both the breach and their promotion wage bill, six points could be seen as lenient.
  — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2026
• Both have been vocal about easing mask mandates to be as lenient as the state allows.
  — Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2022
• The day was perfect, the sky offensively blue, the sun high but lenient on the skin.
  — Nelson C.j., New York Times, 4 May 2025
• Critics say the deal was too lenient and Acosta should resign.
  — Doug Criss, CNN, 11 July 2019
• How lenient will the committee be on injuries compared to past years?
  — Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2021
• If you have been betrayed by a spouse, though, the new system may seem lenient on the offender.
  — The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 June 2021
• Even the most lenient parents often set boundaries on what their children watch.
  — ​wendy Wisner, Parents, 17 Jan. 2026
• Even the most lenient parents often set boundaries on what their children watch.
  — Parents, 16 June 2026
• Wendy Glass had asked the judge, in her plea, for as lenient a sentence as possible.
  — CBS News, 5 June 2019
• Abbott said cities and counties could enact stricter orders, but cannot be more lenient than the state.
  — Taylor Goldenstein, ExpressNews.com, 15 Apr. 2020
• But the court was more lenient than prosecutors had hoped, with many sentenced to less than a decade in prison.
  — John Leicester, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
• Was the first adjudicator wrong, or was the judge too lenient?
  — Tom Margenau, Dallas News, 29 Jan. 2023
• Other cases have ended in lenient plea deals and case dismissals.
  — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026
• Better to have no recall powers than overly lenient ones.
  — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
• But again, given the high-profile nature of the case, a judge may not have been been so lenient as to accept the plea.
  — Natalie Hope McDonald, Vulture, 29 Nov. 2021
• The most lenient is a warning letter to the landlord, with no further follow-up.
  — Cecilia Reyes, chicagotribune.com, 23 Apr. 2021