How to Use permissive in a Sentence

permissive

adjective
Definition of permissivenext
Synonyms for permissivenext
  • Some states have more permissive laws than others.
  • On the other hand, Group B was a much more permissive take.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 17 Oct. 2018
  • So, what drove the West’s permissive-for-their-times voting laws?
    — Jessica Flores, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2020
  • All of you are from states where there are fairly permissive gun laws.
    — CBS News, 22 Jan. 2023
  • The other three proposals -- all filed in the House -- would be much more permissive of guns.
    — Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Cruz's blockade was meant as a protest against Biden's permissive stance on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
    — Grayson Quay, The Week, 18 Dec. 2021
  • Counties can be stricter than their state tier, but not more permissive.
    — Nora Mishanec, SFChronicle.com, 22 Sep. 2020
  • In some places people are less permissive than their laws.
    — The Economist, 26 May 2018
  • Florida is one of the most permissive states in the country for gun purchasers.
    — Benjamin Hart, Daily Intelligencer, 9 Mar. 2018
  • And in some quarters of Wall Street, such as hedge funds, the code has typically been more permissive.
    — New York Times, 2 Aug. 2021
  • Reddit has long been the most permissive of the major social media sites.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 26 Oct. 2017
  • 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, 30 July 2019
  • But some doctors have complained that some boards are too permissive.
    — Lenny Bernstein, chicagotribune.com, 5 Sep. 2017
  • That’s not because more people agree with more permissive gun laws.
    — German Lopez, Vox, 24 Mar. 2018
  • Some countries in this group are more permissive than others.
    — New York Times, 22 Jan. 2022
  • When John Lott wrote his paper, there were just a handful of states that had adopted these permissive [right-to-carry] laws.
    — Maura Ewing, The Atlantic, 24 June 2017
  • The main cause of a child being spoiled is when a parent is too lenient or what’s called permissive parenting.
    — Denise Schipani, Parents, 3 Nov. 2023
  • At least that’s a bit more permissive of my impending glutathione habit.
    — NBC News, 5 Feb. 2018
  • Mississippi's gun laws are among the most permissive in the country.
    — Priya Krishnakumar, CNN, 28 Dec. 2021
  • Some say the companies have been too permissive with state media.
    — Elizabeth Dwoskin, Gerrit De Vynck, Taylor Telford, Anchorage Daily News, 12 Mar. 2022
  • The stability- and traction-control systems maintain order but can't be switched to a more permissive sport mode.
    — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 25 May 2023
  • At the same time, the state’s gun laws have become increasingly permissive.
    — Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 16 June 2022
  • In upstate New York, where plenty of people hunt, gun laws are permissive.
    — The Economist, 5 Oct. 2017
  • Some counties, such as Orange County, will be as permissive on masks as the state allows.
    — Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2023
  • In the rulings, the court’s Democrats take a more permissive view and Republicans a narrower one.
    — Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland, 7 Dec. 2021
  • Generally, the study linked permissive laws, like those in Utah, to more outbreaks.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 13 Oct. 2023
  • Even with permissive zoning laws, many entrepreneurs are still sorting out how to obtain a license from the state.
    — Kyle Stokes, Axios, 3 Sep. 2024
  • That’s more permissive than the laws of nearly every country in Europe.
    — Edward Whelan, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2021
  • His first craft, Gates suggested, had forced him to work with rigor at times when his career felt too permissive.
    — Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2024
  • On the other hand, styles such as helicopter parenting and permissive parenting, while different, can both hinder the child’s ability to cope on their own.
    — Alex Vance, Parents, 15 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'permissive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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