zero tolerance

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a policy of applying strict, non-negotiable consequences for any violation of a rule or standard, regardless of the specific circumstances, severity, or context of the individual case, based on the premise that making any exceptions creates ambiguity that undermines deterrence and enforcement; zero tolerance policies have been applied in schools to weapons and drug possession, in professional sports to performance-enhancing drugs, in border enforcement to unauthorised crossings, and in public health to practices that risk disease transmission; critics argue that zero tolerance approaches produce unjust outcomes by removing the discretion needed to distinguish between genuinely dangerous and trivially minor violations