Idiom
get off lightly
Meaning
To end up with a mild punishment, or without serious harm.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He broke the window but got off lightly with just a warning.”
“The driver was speeding, but since it was his first offense, he got off lightly with a small fine.”
“Given the severity of the financial misconduct, the board felt the executive had gotten off lightly when he was merely asked to resign without further legal action.”
Examples
simple
“He broke the window but got off lightly with just a warning.”
contextual
“The driver was speeding, but since it was his first offense, he got off lightly with a small fine.”
complex
“Given the severity of the financial misconduct, the board felt the executive had gotten off lightly when he was merely asked to resign without further legal action.”
Key words
Related idioms
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