permissive
adjective
per·mis·sive
| \ pər-ˈmi-siv
\
\
Definition of permissive
2a
: granting or tending to grant permission : tolerant
3
: allowing discretion : optional
reduced the permissive retirement age from 65 to 62
4
: supporting growth or genetic replication (as of a virus)
permissive host cells
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Examples of permissive in a Sentence
Some states have more permissive laws than others.
Recent Examples on the Web
Newsom also signaled a sharp break with that past by criticizing existing oversight of the oil industry as too permissive. — Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times, "Touring oil spill site, Newsom calls for greater oversight of California petroleum industry," 24 July 2019 There are many reasons for their decline, but one is the politics of immigration: centre-left parties are seen as too permissive by many of their traditional working-class voters, who have switched to supporting anti-immigrant populist parties. — The Economist, "Denmark’s social democrats beat the migrant-bashers at their game," 9 June 2019 Leading the pack in both permissive laws and mass shooting rate were Vermont, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Arizona. — Megan Molteni, WIRED, "The Looser a State's Gun Laws, the More Mass Shootings It Has," 6 Aug. 2019 And other research shows that police are more likely to be killed in the line of duty in states with more permissive gun laws. — Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, "Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young American men, new research shows," 30 July 2019 Oliver and his wife, Patricia Oliver, have been traveling the world nearly nonstop since Joaquin’s death, urging anyone who will listen about the need to change the nation’s permissive gun laws. — Ron Hurtibise, sun-sentinel.com, "Parkland parents, staying in El Paso after mass shooting, urge city to ‘raise voices’ against gun violence," 4 Aug. 2019 Unlike traditional overnight shelters, Navigation Centers allow residents to come and go as they please and are also more permissive about allowing people to bring their partners, pets and possessions. — Dominic Fracassa, SFChronicle.com, "Bayview parking lot chosen as site for 200-bed SF Navigation Center," 29 July 2019 But the app's development by a largely unknown Russian firm, and its widely permissive rules for how people's photos could be used, triggered alarms in Washington and beyond. — Anchorage Daily News, "Panic over Russian company’s FaceApp is sign of new distrust of Internet," 19 July 2019 Gab's permissive rules have attracted far-right figures like Richard Spencer and David Duke. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "Gab forced offline over apparent tie to Pittsburgh synagogue shooter," 29 Oct. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'permissive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for permissive
permissive
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of permissive
often disapproving
: giving people a lot of freedom or too much freedom to do what they want to do
See the full definition for permissive in the English Language Learners Dictionary
permissive
adjective
per·mis·sive
| \ pər-ˈmis-iv
\
\
Medical Definition of permissive
: supporting growth or genetic replication (as of a virus)
permissive temperatures permissive monkey cells
permissive
adjective
per·mis·sive
Legal Definition of permissive
1
: based on or having permission
permissive occupancy a permissive user of the vehicle
2
: granting permission or discretion (as to the court)
a permissive statute
3
: not compulsory: as
a
: allowed or made under a standard, rule, or provision that permits discretion or an option — see also permissive intervention at intervention, permissive presumption at presumption — compare compulsory
b
: allowed under modern rules of civil procedure although not arising from the same transaction or occurrence as the one at issue in the original claim
a permissive counterclaim
— see also permissive joinder at joinder
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