permissive C2+ Topic:Social Issues & Human Rights US /pərˈmɪsɪv/ UK /pəˈmɪsɪv/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj allowing freedom of behavior; lenient or tolerant Critics blamed a permissive upbringing for his recklessness. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · allowing freedom of... lenienttolerantindulgentliberaleasygoinglaxforbearing ↔ Opposites strictauthoritarianrestrictiveprohibitivesevere Word family Derived forms permissivelypermissiveness Related forms permitpermissionpermissible Etymology AI details From Medieval Latin permissivus, from Latin permissus, past participle of permittere ('to allow'), from per- ('through') + mittere ('to send'). permittere Latin mittere Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Social Issues & Human Rights Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # permissive **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /pərˈmɪsɪv/ **IPA (UK):** /pəˈmɪsɪv/ ## Meanings 1. allowing freedom of behavior; lenient or tolerant ## Examples - Critics blamed a permissive upbringing for his recklessness. ## Synonyms - lenient - tolerant - indulgent - liberal - easygoing - lax - forbearing ## Antonyms - strict - authoritarian - restrictive - prohibitive - severe ## Derived Forms - permissively - permissiveness ## Related Forms - permit - permission - permissible ## Roots and Affixes - Root: permittere - Root: mittere ## Etymology From Medieval Latin permissivus, from Latin permissus, past participle of permittere ('to allow'), from per- ('through') + mittere ('to send'). ## AI Etymology Permissive is from Medieval Latin permissivus, from Latin permissus, past participle of permittere ('to allow'), from per- ('through') + mittere ('to send'). Important recorded forms include permittere (Latin) and mittere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers allowing freedom of behavior; lenient or tolerant. The wider family includes derived forms such as permissively and permissiveness and related words such as permit, permission, and permissible. ## Topics - Social Issues & Human Rights - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown