mitigate
playSimple Definition of mitigate
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: to make (something) less severe, harmful, or painful
Usage Discussion of mitigate
Mitigate is sometimes used as an intransitive (followed by against) where militate might be expected. Even though Faulkner used it <some intangible and invisible social force that mitigates against him — William Faulkner> and one critic thinks it should be called an American idiom, it is usually considered a mistake.
Examples of mitigate in a sentence
At the far end of the room is a sliding glass door, taped with an X to mitigate shattering. The framing is flimsy, and rattles from mortar rounds even a half mile away. —William Langewiesche, Atlantic, May 2005
… a genre novel whose inevitable cinematic ending doesn't mitigate the visceral and emotional power of what has come before. It lingers in the memory like a very bad dream. —Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books, 14 Aug. 2003
For 65 holes Norman dominated the classic rolling fairways and small, subtle greens of Olympic … with driving and iron play so solid that it mitigated mediocre putting. —Jaime Diaz, Sports Illustrated, 8 Nov. 1993
Emergency funds are being provided to help mitigate the effects of the disaster.
medicines used to mitigate a patient's suffering
Did You Know?
Would it be correct to say, "His boyish appearance mitigated against his getting an early promotion"? Most usage commentators would say "no." They feel such examples demonstrate a long-standing confusion between mitigate and the look-alike militate. Those two words are not closely related etymologically (mitigate descends from the Latin verb mitigare, _ meaning "to soften," whereas _militate traces to militare, another Latin verb that means "to engage in warfare"), nor are they particularly close in meaning (militate means "to have weight or effect"). The confusion between the two has existed for long enough that one commentator thinks "mitigate against" should be accepted as an idiomatic alternative to militate, but if you want to avoid criticism, you should keep mitigate and militate distinct.
Origin of mitigate
Middle English, from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare to soften, from mitis soft + -igare (akin to Latin agere to drive); akin to Old Irish moíth soft — more at agent
First Known Use: 15th century
Synonym Discussion of mitigate
Rhymes with mitigate
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Medical Dictionary
mitigate
playMedical Definition of mitigate
mit·i·gat·ed; mit·i·gat·ing
: to make less severe or painful
Learn More about mitigate
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for "mitigate" Medical Dictionary: Definition of "mitigate" Spanish Central: Translation of "mitigate" Nglish: Translation of "mitigate" for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of "mitigate" for Arabic speakers
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