le laxisme

Meaning (in English)

Laxisme means excessive permissiveness or lack of strictness, especially in the way rules, discipline, morals, or standards are applied. It suggests an attitude of letting things slide or being too lenient, often with a negative implication (as if it leads to disorder or lowered standards).

Common contexts:

• Education / parenting: being too indulgent or not enforcing rules.
• Law / public policy: weak enforcement, overly soft approach.
• Morality / religion: overly flexible interpretation of moral duties.

Parts / formation

• From the adjective lax (“loose, relaxed, not strict”)
• Built with the suffix -isme, which forms nouns indicating a doctrine, tendency, or attitude.

So laxisme = the tendency/attitude of being lax.

French synonyms

• laxité
• permissivité
• indulgence (often “excessive indulgence” in this sense)
• laisser-aller (more informal; “letting things go”)
• souplesse excessive (in contexts of rules/discipline)

French antonyms

• rigueur
• sévérité
• fermeté
• stricteté
• intransigeance (stronger, implying no compromise)

Notes on nuance

• laxisme is usually more critical than neutral words like souplesse (flexibility). It implies too much flexibility, to the point of being a problem.