as in flexible
often disapproving
giving people a lot of freedom or too much freedom to do what they want to do
permissive parents Some states have more permissive laws than others.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of permissive
People have passed the point of exhaustion with permissive policies that too often make the well-being of the public at large a secondary concern at best.
—
Editorial, Boston Herald, 11 Aug. 2025
Texas has historically been more permissive of autonomous vehicle testing and operations on public roads than have other states.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2025
Compared to the jellyfish parent which can be permissive to a fault and the helicopter parent who might be too overbearing, the elephant parent is typically flexible and adaptable to their child’s needs.
—Anna Earl, Parents, 2 July 2025
In Arizona, with permissive laws.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2018
See All Example Sentences for permissive
Editorial, Boston Herald, 11 Aug. 2025
Texas has historically been more permissive of autonomous vehicle testing and operations on public roads than have other states.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2025
Compared to the jellyfish parent which can be permissive to a fault and the helicopter parent who might be too overbearing, the elephant parent is typically flexible and adaptable to their child’s needs.
—Anna Earl, Parents, 2 July 2025
In Arizona, with permissive laws.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2018
See All Example Sentences for permissive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for permissive
Adjective
-
The refrigerated deliveries are flexible based on your schedule and feature eco-friendly packaging.—
Kasey Caminiti,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Crops are left unharvested in response to market conditions, but they could be marketed with connections to more flexible buyers.—
Ivanka Trump,
Fortune,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Protesters signaled their support for Karki through an informal vote on the messaging app Discord.—
Sugam Pokharel,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Bolsonaro's presidency was marked by intense skepticism about the pandemic and vaccines and his embrace of informal mining and land-clearing for cattle grazing, pushing deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest to record highs.—
Ricardo Brito,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Many of Joaquin's accusers decried his state-level plea deal with the California Attorney General's Office as too lenient.—
Luc Cohen,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Since then, attorneys and judges have overseen multiple lenient plea deals and case dismissals, while local prosecutors reviewed hundreds of active and resolved cases that Tran investigated.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The game remains accessible to new players and to fans who might not get what this role playing stuff means.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
-
It is tucked into the park, due east of the City Park Tennis Courts, and northwest of Duck Lake along an interior road accessible from 23rd Avenue.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Wilson argued the Charlotte attack resulted from several failures, from lax ticket enforcement to reliance on private security, rather than policies from Cooper’s tenure.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Contraband control was equally lax.—
Walter Pavlo,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The resulting pollen is as pliable as Play-Doh, says Shahrudin Ibrahim, a research fellow in Cho’s lab who helped to develop the technique.—
Sandy Ong,
JSTOR Daily,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Some might go so far as to suggest that Ufotable’s work approaches the pinnacle of what animation can achieve this decade, tapping into that infinite potential of cinema’s most pliable medium (your mileage will vary).—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Permissive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/permissive. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share