If you're not overly strict, and you show tolerance and mercy when someone does something wrong, you're being lenient.
Lenient means tolerant or relaxed, and is usually used when we’re talking about someone’s attitude toward discipline. In 19th-century child-rearing books, we often read about strict teachers who punish children just for squirming in their seats. These days teachers are more likely to be lenient, more understanding. If you're a big fan of discipline and punishment, however, lenient might mean "soft" or "indulgent."
A certain Mr. Beaverbrook often talks on the English radio about what he considers to be the far too lenient bombardment of Germany.
French premier Clemenceau had failed to achieve all the demands of the French people, who complained that the peace terms were too lenient and that Germany should have been partitioned into smaller, weaker states.
His mother would be furious under normal circumstances, but ever since the accident she’d been far more lenient with him.
In retrospect, it is clear that one of the major factors pushing this trend was a more lenient justice system.
