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mitigation

mit-ih-GAY-shun /ˌmɪtɪˈɡeɪʃn/

nounC1IELTSTOEFLGREGMAT

academicformal

The action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something negative or harmful.

Describes proactive strategies taken to lessen or soften the impact of an unavoidable threat or ecological damage.

The story behind the word. Latin 'mitigare' combined 'mitis' (soft or mild) with 'agere' (to make or do). To mitigate literally means 'to make mild'. Early usage applied to soothing anger or softening harsh physical pain.

Word relationships

alleviation: 'Alleviation' focuses on lightening bodily pain or distress, while 'mitigation' is widely used for systemic risks, impacts, and policies.
attenuation: 'Attenuation' emphasizes weakening the physical intensity or force of something.

aggravation: Making a bad situation worse or more severe.
exacerbation: Increasing the violence or severity of harm.

Commonly confused with

adaptation: 'Mitigation' reduces the root cause or severity of a threat; 'adaptation' adjusts behavior to live with the threat.

Word family

mitigate (verb): To make less severe, serious, or painful.
mitigating (adjective): Serving to make something less bad or less serious.
unmitigated (adjective): Absolute; unqualified (often describing bad outcomes).

Collocations

mitigation strategy
climate mitigation
risk mitigation
mitigation measures

Example sentences

"Flood mitigation projects included constructing coastal wetlands to absorb oceanic storm surges before they hit urban settlements." Climate Strategy
"The industrial plant implemented carbon mitigation measures to offset its daily atmospheric emissions." Environmental Policy

Memory hook

MITI-gate: Put a GATE up to make the damage MILDER. Mitis (soft) + Agere (make) = Make soft.

When not to use

Do not use when speaking about preventing an event from happening entirely; use 'prevention' instead.

Fun facts

In legal terminology, 'mitigating circumstances' are facts that do not justify a crime but lessen the severity of the sentence.