"leeway" means: A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
leeway
A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.
Seen in the wild
5 citations · last seen May 2026
Seen in the wild
BlueskyMay 2026
Okay so there's 3 years leeway if accompanied by an adult, except for 18, which has no such leeway in any situation. So if they categorize it as 16, I can take the kiddo. Fingers crossed 🙃
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BlueskyMay 2026
Of course, there should sometimes be some leeway. A victim that recently escaped abuse calling their abuser "insane" is... probably not in the right headspace for a reminder about the ableism/saneism of that word but…
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BlueskyMay 2026
Putting on my woke hat for a second and it's targeted. If you settings say you are female then they will show you these ads. Especially with the turn with our current government. These advertisers most likely have WA…
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BlueskyMay 2026
This doesn't feel right because the hands clearly move forward, but the graphics don't show that. And traditionally it was broadly considered (but not rules defined) that a swing was barrel passing the wrists AKA past…
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BlueskyMay 2026
any other autistic people overly obsessed with correcting facts and the inability to read social nuance? bc if my gf and i are talking about something or they’re telling a story, i *have* to fact edit as we go like ev…
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Definitions
UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK
A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.
For parents
"leeway" means: A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
"leeway" means: A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK
The drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction.
I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.
Heard in the wild
“Okay so there's 3 years leeway if accompanied by an adult, except for 18, which has no such leeway in any situation. So if they categorize it as 16, I can take the kiddo. Fingers crossed 🙃”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Of course, there should sometimes be some leeway. A victim that recently escaped abuse calling their abuser "insane" is... probably not in the right headspace for a reminder about the ableism/saneism of that word but that doesn't mean it's harmless.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Putting on my woke hat for a second and it's targeted. If you settings say you are female then they will show you these ads. Especially with the turn with our current government. These advertisers most likely have WAY MORE money and leeway with this shit.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“This doesn't feel right because the hands clearly move forward, but the graphics don't show that. And traditionally it was broadly considered (but not rules defined) that a swing was barrel passing the wrists AKA past 0⁰, so 45⁰ seems like a lot of added leeway...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“any other autistic people overly obsessed with correcting facts and the inability to read social nuance? bc if my gf and i are talking about something or they’re telling a story, i *have* to fact edit as we go like everything must be factually accurate with no room for leeway 🫠”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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UK
#3·Apr 27, 2026UK
(British) An adverse discrepancy or variation in a cumulative process, usually in the phrase make up leeway.
: Within an expression that is not -strict, some leeway is granted for an implementation to use an extended exponent range to represent intermediate results;
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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UK
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Other words near "leeway" (L)
leeftailleeroyLeersleeryleetnessleetspeakleft and rightleftardLeftbookleft bracketleft coastleft-footer
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