Standard Lemma guide

permissiveness

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: P ER0 M IH1 S IH0 V N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The relative likelihood of something or someone to grant permission or allow something to happen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • The permissiveness of campus life leads many college freshmen to try things they would never have experienced at home.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tolerance

Antonyms: unpermissiveness

Broader terms: disposition, temperament

Narrower terms: toleration, acceptance, sufferance, indulgence, lenience, leniency, overtolerance

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English permissive Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English permissiveness From permissive + -ness.