Synonyms of lenient

lenient

adjective

as in sympathetic

allowing a lot of freedom and not punishing bad behavior in a strong way

a teacher who is lenient with students who have misbehaved

The public was outraged by the lenient sentence the corrupt banker received.

Related Words

• sympathetic
• compassionate
• friendly
• merciful
• forgiving
• pleasant
• patient
• gentle
• generous
• benevolent
• kind
• forbearing
• kindly
• good
• humane
• mild
• gracious
• considerate
• soft
• attentive
• thoughtful
• kindhearted
• beneficent
• benignant
• solicitous
• nice
• benign
• sweet
• tender
• softhearted
• tolerant
• clement
• warm
• good-natured
• understanding
• liberal
• good-hearted
• affable
• pitying
• companionable
• amicable
• genial
• cordial
• warmhearted
• neighborly
• charitable
• tenderhearted
• comradely
• magnanimous
• good-tempered
• humanitarian
• altruistic
• munificent
• unselfish
• philanthropic
• selfless
• unsparing
• noble
• brotherly
• openhearted
• freehanded
• greathearted
• anticruelty
• cruelty-free

Dissimilar Words

• strict
• severe
• harsh
• tough
• stern
• grim
• ruthless
• merciless
• pitiless
• insensitive
• thoughtless
• inconsiderate
• uncaring
• heavy-handed
• malignant
• malicious
• mean
• unthinking
• hateful
• spiteful
• virulent
• malevolent
• malign
• cruel
• nasty
• brutal
• uncharitable
• unkind
• vicious
• savage
• unsympathetic
• callous
• sadistic
• ironhearted
• inhuman
• barbarous
• barbaric
• atrocious
• inhumane
• heartless
• stonyhearted
• brutish
• truculent
• unfeeling
• brute
• fiendish
• bestial
• insensate
• unkindly
• uncompassionate
• antihumanitarian
• hard-hearted
• cold-blooded
• wanton

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lenient

In what proved a more lenient ruling than some feared, the court fined Nadezhdin 1,000 rubles ($12) and set him free. — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 17 July 2026

The lawsuit, which may stretch on for years, marks another effort by state attorneys general to oppose major mergers as the government embraces a more lenient view on consolidation, particularly in media and entertainment. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 13 July 2026

Jones rejected his plea deal on July 2, 2024, for being too lenient for stalking and shooting a woman at least four times in November 2022, which sparked a tirade against the judge, court documents allege. — Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Best jumbo loan lenders right now FHA loans These are mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration — and because of that, the baseline requirements issued by the FHA are more lenient than mortgages not backed by the government. — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 2 July 2026

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