Synonyms of lenity

lenity

noun

ˈle-nə-tē 

as in mercy

kind, gentle, or compassionate treatment especially towards someone who is undeserving of it

a social critic who argues that judicial lenity is chiefly to blame for the increased criminality that plagues us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mercy
• mercifulness
• leniency
• clemency
• empathy
• forbearance
• compassion
• kindness
• sympathy
• lenience
• grace
• tenderness
• charity
• generosity
• quarter
• goodness
• pity
• understanding
• affection
• love
• humanitarianism
• gentleness
• magnanimity
• benevolence
• kindliness
• philanthropy
• meekness
• mildness
• goodwill
• softness
• nobility
• favor
• altruism
• humaneness
• devotion
• worship
• commiseration
• niceness
• care

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• vengeance
• revenge
• ruthlessness
• retribution
• retaliation
• cruelty
• punishment
• vindictiveness
• violence
• virulence
• barbarity
• reprisal
• savagery
• discipline
• brutality
• wantonness
• uncharitableness
• malice
• sadism
• requital
• hatred
• chastisement
• mercilessness
• savageness
• spite
• venom
• viciousness
• truculence
• malignity
• vitriol
• pitilessness
• detestation
• hostility
• abhorrence
• hard-heartedness
• castigation
• scolding
• atrocity
• meanness
• malignancy
• hate
• malevolence
• enmity
• loathing
• jealousy
• antagonism
• spleen
• execration
• animosity
• resentment
• abomination
• maliciousness
• antipathy
• bitterness
• jaundice
• gall
• grudge
• rancor
• bile
• pique
• nastiness
• harshness
• hardness
• roughness
• spitefulness
• coarseness
• cattiness
• invidiousness
• hatefulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lenity

Twelve judges sided with Cargill and concluded that the definition of machine gun was ambiguous enough to invoke a legal principle known as the rule of lenity, which requires courts to interpret unclear criminal laws in a way that's most favorable to the defendant. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024

The majority’s treatment of the rule of lenity also strikes a slightly sour note. —The Insider, Forbes, 15 Apr. 2021

If the rule of lenity applies here, then Butler should not be charged with a hate crime. —Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, 25 Apr. 2017