permissive

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

adjective not preventive
adjective granting or inclined or able to grant permission; not strict in discipline

From French permissif.

Pitt was content to work by permissive methods, and to leave open the decision as to which of the rising industrial towns should gain the franchise as it was sold by the decaying boroughs. — William Pitt and national revival, J. Holland (John Holland) Rose
[C5-180] In a letter to all members of the police department, dated February 7, 1963, Chief Curry explained the general order, in part, as follows: The General Order covering this subject is not merely permissive. — Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, United States. Warren Commission
If it be objected, that this doth in a sort authorize usury, which before was in some places but permissive; the answer is, that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration, than to suffer it to rage by connivance. — Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients, Francis Bacon

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