lax
pronunciation
How to pronounce lax in British English:
UK [læks]
How to pronounce lax in American English:
US [læks]
-
- Adjective:
- lacking in rigor or strictness
- pronounced with muscles relatively relaxed (e.g., the vowel sound in `bet')
- not taut or rigid; not stretched or held tight
- lacking in strength or firmness or resilience
- tolerant or lenient
- emptying easily or excessively
Word Origin
- lax
- lax: see lease, relish
- lax (adj.)
- c. 1400, "loose" (in reference to bowels), from Latin laxus "wide, loose, open," figuratively "loose, free, wide," from PIE root *(s)leg- "to be slack, be languid" (cognates: Greek legein "to leave off, stop," lagos "hare," literally "with drooping ears," lagnos "lustful, lascivious," lagaros "slack, hollow, shrunken;" Latin languere "to be faint, weary," languidis "faint, weak, dull, sluggish, languid"). Of rules, discipline, etc., attested from mid-15c.
- lax (n.)
- "salmon," from Old English leax (see lox).
Antonym
Example
- 1. Loose skin can be compounded by underlying lax muscle .
- 2. Panama 's lax corporate laws have also attracted scrutiny .
- 3. Despite increasingly strict environmental laws , implementation of pollution standards remains lax .
- 4. The damage done to the financial system by lax controls , rotten incentives and passive regulation is plain .
- 5. The review led to a hefty increase in pay , a symptom also of a generally lax approach to public finances .