as in mercy
kind, gentle, or compassionate treatment especially towards someone who is undeserving of it
a social critic who argues that judicial lenity is chiefly to blame for the increased criminality that plagues us
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Recent Examples of lenity
Twelve judges sided with Cargill and concluded that the definition of machine gun was ambiguous enough to invoke a legal principle known as the rule of lenity, which requires courts to interpret unclear criminal laws in a way that's most favorable to the defendant.
—
Melissa Quinn,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2024
The majority’s treatment of the rule of lenity also strikes a slightly sour note.
—
The Insider,
Forbes,
15 Apr. 2021
If the rule of lenity applies here, then Butler should not be charged with a hate crime.
—
Mark Joseph Stern,
Slate Magazine,
25 Apr. 2017
Melissa Quinn,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2024
The majority’s treatment of the rule of lenity also strikes a slightly sour note.
—
The Insider,
Forbes,
15 Apr. 2021
If the rule of lenity applies here, then Butler should not be charged with a hate crime.
—
Mark Joseph Stern,
Slate Magazine,
25 Apr. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lenity
Noun
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Read on for their top picks, including beach-ready flip-flops and dressier styles that won't leave your feet begging for mercy.
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Algeria found itself at the mercy of Lionel Messi who scored a wonderful hat-trick in its first game, although the Argentine forward was somewhat assisted by some terrible defending that will need to get better.
Noun
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Other defendants and their family members pleaded for leniency in court.
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Only when talking of what actually went on in the Rex Rooms in Chelsea at the end of a long day and night celebrating a win wrapped up before lunch on Sunday did Key offer any leniency towards cricketers who had been socialising with members of the Saracens rugby team.
Noun
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Numerous governors have commuted some number of death sentences or granted broad blanket clemency to condemned inmates in the years since to empty portions of their death rows.
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Robinson’s request for clemency was one of several attempts to overturn his death sentence over the years.
Cite this Entry
“Lenity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lenity. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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