mitigate

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈmɪtəˌgeɪt/

📖 Definitions

  1. verb
    To make less severe, serious, or painful; to lessen the gravity of something.; To serve as a partial excuse or justification for; to make less blameworthy.; To moderate or reduce the intensity of something.

🔗 Details

Word forms

3rd sing.: mitigates Past: mitigated Past part.: mitigated Pres part.: mitigating

Collocations

mitigate riskmitigate the effectsmitigate damagemitigate the impactmitigating circumstancesmitigate against

Derivatives

mitigationmitigableunmitigatedmitigantmitigatory

Synonyms

alleviatelessenreducediminishameliorateassuage

Antonyms

aggravateexacerbateworsenintensify

Commonly confused

militate
EN: 'Militate' means to have a strong effect (usually 'militate against'), while 'mitigate' means to make less severe or painful.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'mitigate' (with 'g') with 'militate' (with 'l'). 'Mitigate' reduces severity; 'militate' weighs against something.

💬 Examples

  1. The government took steps to mitigate the effects of the economic crisis.

  2. His young age mitigated his responsibility for the crime.

  3. Planting trees along the coast can help mitigate the impact of storms.