Home › Skilled Trades & Construction › Construction Site Management › mitigate

mitigate

MIT-ih-gate /ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/

verbC1GREGMATSATUPSC

formalprofessional

To make a risk, damage, problem, or severity less harsh, intense, or severe.

Does not mean eliminating a problem completely, but reducing its harmful impact to manageable levels.

The story behind the word. From Latin 'mitigatus', past participle of 'mitigare' (to make soft or gentle), from 'mitis' (soft) and 'agere' (to drive/make). In engineering and risk control, it means softening the harsh blows of unexpected site disasters.

Word relationships

alleviate: Alleviate usually refers to relieving physical pain, discomfort, or emotional stress.
mollify: Mollify applies specifically to soothing angry human emotions.

exacerbate: To make a bad situation or risk significantly worse.
aggravate: To intensify irritation, injury, or operational difficulty.

Commonly confused with

militate: Militate means to serve as a powerful force against something; mitigate means to lessen severity.

Word family

mitigation (noun): The action of reducing severity or risk.
mitigating (adjective): Serving to make something less bad.

Collocations

mitigate risk
mitigate impact
mitigate damage
mitigate hazards

Idioms & expressions

mitigating factors

Example sentences

"Installing temporary water barriers helped mitigate the risk of flooding during deep excavation." Risk Control

Memory hook

MITIGATE acts like a MITT (glove) to catch a hard ball softly. Softening the severity of a risk.

When not to use

Do not confuse with 'militate' (to work against). You mitigate risks, you do not 'militate' risks.

Fun facts

Environmental mitigation banks are areas where builders restore wetlands to offset habitat destruction caused by their construction.