lax Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite lacking in rigor or strictness
    slack.
    • such lax and slipshod ways are no longer acceptable
    • lax in attending classes
    • slack in maintaining discipline
  2. adjective pronounced with muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed (e.g., the vowel sound in `bet')
  3. adjective lacking in strength or firmness or resilience
    • a lax rope
    • a limp handshake
  4. adjective satellite emptying easily or excessively
    loose.
    • loose bowels

WordNet

Lax adjective
Etymology
L. laxus Cf. Laches, Languish, Lease, v. t., Leash.
Wordforms
comparative Laxer ; superlative Laxest
Definitions
  1. Not tense, firm, or rigid; loose; slack; as, a lax bandage; lax fiber.
    The flesh of that sort of fish being lax and spongy. Ray.
  2. Not strict or stringent; not exact; loose; weak; vague; equivocal.
    The discipline was lax. Macaulay.
    Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions. J. A. Symonds.
    The word "æternus" itself is sometimes of a lax signification. Jortin.
  3. Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal. Syn. -- Loose; slack; vague; unconfined; unrestrained; dissolute; licentious.
Lax noun
Definitions
  1. A looseness; diarrhea.

Webster 1913