lax

¹

[ laks ]

adjective

, lax·er, lax·est.

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

   lax morals;

   a lax attitude toward discipline.

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

   a lax rope;

   a lax handshake.

3. not rigidly exact or precise; vague:

   lax ideas.

4. open, loose, or not retentive, as diarrheal bowels.
5. (of a person) having the bowels unusually loose or open.
6. open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous:

   lax tissue;

   lax texture.

7. Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Compare tense ¹( def 4 ).

lax

²

[ laks ]

noun

, Informal.

1. lacrosse:

   To handle my course load, I know I have to cut back on extracurricular activities, but no way am I giving up lax.

lax

/ læks /

adjective

1. lacking firmness; not strict
2. lacking precision or definition
3. not taut
4. 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
5. (of flower clusters) having loosely arranged parts

Derived Forms

• ˈlaxly, adverb
• ˈlaxity, noun

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lax¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin laxus “loose, spacious, wide”; akin to languēre “to be sluggish, faint, unwell”; cognate with Old English slæc slack ¹

Origin of lax²

First recorded in 1970–75; la(crosse) ( def ) + x ³( def ) “a cross,” (in the sense cross ( def ), a pun on crosse, the stick used in lacrosse)

Word History and Origins

Origin of lax¹

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

Related Words

• careless
• indifferent
• lenient
• negligent
• sloppy
• soft
• vague