lax

CEFRC1

/læks/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Not strict, careful, or strongly controlled.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.

Examples

  • Better short and sweet, than long and lax.

  • Some member countries have been lax in abiding by G-7 agreements.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Loose; not tight or taut.

  2. Lacking care; neglectful, negligent.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A salmon.

More examples

In context

  • The rules are fairly lax, but you have to know which ones you can bend.

  • The rope fell lax.

  • Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). Doublet of lox.