laxity

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French laxité, itself borrowed from Latin laxitas, laxitatem, from laxus. By surface analysis, lax +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlaksɪti/

Noun

laxity (countable and uncountable, plural laxities)

1. The state of being lax; looseness, lack of tension.

   Synonym: laxness

2. Moral looseness; lack of rigorousness or strictness.
   • 1880, The Gospel standard, or Feeble Christian's support:

     In these days of laxity, and anythingism in religion, even those of whom we might hope better things do not appear exercised, with the apostle Paul, to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men.

   • 1981 April 5, Theodore Solotaroff, “REVIVING THE ANCIENT ART OF EXECUTION”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     It is no accident that capital punishment is reentering our society on the wave of the conservative reaction to the permissiveness and laxity of the past two decades.