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mitigate

MIT-ih-geyt /ˈmɪt.ɪ.ɡeɪt/

verbC1GRESATGMAT

formal

To make less severe, serious, or painful; in gaming, to reduce the impact of bad luck or negative random events.

Mitigation doesn't eliminate luck entirely; it gives players strategic tools (like rerolls or modifiers) to manage and lessen the damage of bad outcomes.

The story behind the word. Derived from the Latin verb 'mitigare', meaning 'to soften' or 'to make mild'. It combines 'mitis' (soft, gentle) and 'agere' (to do or make), perfectly capturing the act of softening a harsh blow or a bad dice roll.

Word relationships

alleviate: Alleviate is typically used for physical pain or suffering, while mitigate is used for abstract risks or severity.
moderate: Moderate means to make less extreme, whereas mitigate specifically implies lessening something negative or harmful.

exacerbate: Exacerbate means to make a problem or bad situation worse.

Commonly confused with

eliminate: To eliminate is to get rid of something completely, while to mitigate is only to lessen its impact.

Word family

mitigation (noun): The action of reducing the severity or seriousness of something.
mitigating (adjective): Serving to make something less severe or painful.

Collocations

mitigate luck
mitigate risk
mitigate damage

Example sentences

"A skilled player will always look for ways to mitigate bad dice rolls by investing in static stat modifiers." A strategy guide explaining how to handle dice rolls.

Memory hook

Think of a baseball 'mitt'. It catches a hard, fast ball and 'mitigates' the impact on your hand. Use a mitt to soften the hit.

When not to use

Do not use when you are completely preventing an action; use 'prevent' or 'cancel' instead.

Fun facts

In game design, 'luck mitigation' is what separates casual party games (like Yahtzee) from deep strategy games (like Castles of Burgundy), where dice are used as resources rather than simple pass/fail tests.