permissive
Use Permissive in a sentence
ɪv adjective
1.
habitually or characteristically accepting or tolerant of something, as social behavior or linguistic usage, that others might disapprove or forbid.
2.
granting or denoting permission: a permissive nod.
3.
4.
Genetics. (of a cell) permitting replication of a strand of DNA that could be lethal, as a viral segment or mutant gene.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To permissive
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Permissive
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
permissive (pəˈmɪsɪv) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | tolerant; lenient: permissive parents |
| 2. | indulgent in matters of sex: a permissive society |
| 3. | granting permission |
| 4. | archaic not obligatory |
| per'missively | |
| —adv | |
| per'missiveness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
permissive
c.1600, "allowing to pass through," from O.Fr. permissif, from L. permissus (see permission). In sense of "tolerant, liberal" it is first recorded 1956; by 1966 it had definite overtones of sexual freedom.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
He practised a permissive style of leadership that allowed too many abuses to go unchecked.
She manages to be earnest and flighty, humorous and dead serious, strict and permissive by unexpected turns.
And there you have him: permissive yet manipulative, enlightened but also commercial.
Second, it has remarkably few begetters, certainly for such a permissive age.
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