permissive

views updated

per·mis·sive / pərˈmisiv/ • adj. 1. allowing or characterized by great or excessive freedom of behavior: I was not a permissive parent the permissive society of the 60s and 70s.2. Law allowed but not obligatory; optional: the Hague Convention was permissive, not mandatory.3. Biol. allowing a biological or biochemical process to occur: the mutants grow well at the permissive temperature. ∎  allowing the infection and replication of viruses.DERIVATIVES: per·mis·sive·ly adv.per·mis·sive·ness n.

More From encyclopedia.com