lax

[ laks ]

/ læks /

adjective, lax·er, lax·est.

not strict or severe; careless or negligent: lax morals; a lax attitude toward discipline.

loose or slack; not tense, rigid, or firm: a lax rope; a lax handshake.

not rigidly exact or precise; vague: lax ideas.

open, loose, or not retentive, as diarrheal bowels.

(of a person) having the bowels unusually loose or open.

open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous: lax tissue; lax texture.

Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Compare tense¹(def 4).

Origin of lax

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin laxus loose, slack, wide; akin to languēre to languish; cognate with Old English slæc slack¹

OTHER WORDS FROM lax

lax·ly, adverb lax·ness, noun o·ver·lax, adjective o·ver·lax·ly, adverb

o·ver·lax·ness, noun

Words nearby lax

lawton, lawyer, lawyer vine, lawyer's wig, lawyering, lax, laxalt, laxation, laxative, laxity, laxness

Example sentences from the Web for laxly

On Mary's coronation-day, the doors of the dungeon were so laxly guarded, that it was easy to escape.

Fox's Book of Martyrs |John Foxe
I was pleased, however, to see that I was so lightly and laxly guarded.

In the Wrong Paradise |Andrew Lang
In both cases we have a laxly articulated short sound, and a diphthong in which the tongue rises towards the end.

The Sounds of Spoken English |Walter Rippmann
When these are unusually licentious, sedition is interpreted liberally and laxly.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXLII. Vol. LV. April, 1844 |Various

The small attenuated leaves are alternate and laxly arranged on the flower stems, which are 6in.

Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers |John Wood

British Dictionary definitions for laxly

lax

/ (læks) /

adjective

lacking firmness; not strict

lacking precision or definition

not taut

phonetics (of a speech sound) pronounced with little muscular effort and consequently having relatively imprecise accuracy of articulation and little temporal duration. In English the vowel i in bit is lax

(of flower clusters) having loosely arranged parts

Derived forms of lax

laxly, adverb laxity or laxness, noun

Word Origin for lax

C14 (originally used with reference to the bowels): from Latin laxus loose

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

lax

adjective, lax·er, lax·est.

Origin of lax

OTHER WORDS FROM lax

Words nearby lax

Example sentences from the Web for laxly

British Dictionary definitions for laxly

adjective

Derived forms of lax

Word Origin for lax

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

lax

adjective, lax·er, lax·est.

Origin of lax

OTHER WORDS FROM lax

Words nearby lax

Example sentences from the Web for laxly

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for laxly

adjective

Derived forms of lax

Word Origin for lax

British Dictionary definitions for laxly