mitigate
MIT-ih-gayt
/ˈmɪt.ɪ.ɡeɪt/
To make something less severe, harmful, painful, or damaging.
Focuses on lessening the intensity or potential impact of a threat rather than eliminating it entirely.
The story behind the word. Formed from Latin 'mitis' (soft or gentle) and 'agere' (to make). To mitigate literally means to make soft or mild, reducing harsh forces to manageable levels.
Word relationships
- alleviate: Often used for softening physical pain or emotional suffering.
- attenuate: Means to reduce physical force, thickness, or signal intensity.
- exacerbate: To make a bad situation or injury significantly worse.
- aggravate: To intensify or inflame a problematic condition.
Commonly confused with
- militate: Mitigate means to soften or lessen impact; militate (usually with 'against') means to exert powerful force or evidence against an outcome.
Word family
- mitigation (noun): The act of reducing severity, risk, or damage.
- unmitigated (adjective): Absolute; not softened or lessened in any way.
Collocations
- mitigate damage
- mitigate risk
- mitigate impact
- mitigate loss
Idioms & expressions
- mitigating factors
Example sentences
- "Building reinforced sea walls helps mitigate the destructive impact of coastal storm surges." Disaster Risk Reduction
Memory hook
MITIGATE acts like a MITT to catch and soften a heavy blow. Soften the blow.
When not to use
Do not confuse with 'militate' (which means to work against or exert strong influence against).
Fun facts
- In criminal law, 'mitigating circumstances' can reduce a defendant's legal sentence without erasing guilt.
Related words
Explore more words
mitigation, reduce, extenuation, de-escalate, assuage, palliative
Also appears in
- Leadership → Adaptability in Crisis
- Conflict → Pacification & Appeasement
- Business → Project Management
- Technology → Cybersecurity & Privacy
- Finance → Speculation & Risk Management
- Environmental Policy & Sustainability Economics → Carbon Footprint & Emissions
- Environmental Policy & Sustainability Economics → Water Scarcity & Management
- Hobbies, Crafts & Leisure → Board Games & Tabletop
- Skilled Trades & Construction → Construction Site Management
- Emergency Services & Public Safety → Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Response
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