clemency
KLEM-un-seenounMeaning mercy, especially in punishing someone
Memory hook CLEMENTINE CLEMENCY: mercy, served sweet. Instead of punishing the hungry boy who took a loaf of bread, the queen hands him a basket of clementines. She shows clemency.
The queen showed clemency to the hungry boy who had taken a loaf of bread.
In context The judge could have given the maximum sentence, but she granted clemency because the young man had confessed and repaid every dollar.
Similar mercy, leniency, pardon, compassion
Opposite severity, harshness, cruelty
From Latin clementia, “mildness, mercy.”