Mitigate vs. Militate: Usage Guide
Mitigate is sometimes used as an intransitive (followed by against) where militate might be expected. Even though Faulkner used it
William Faulkner
and one critic thinks it should be called an American idiom, it is usually considered a mistake.
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The meaning of mitigate is straightforward enough: to make something—such as a problem, symptom, or punishment—less harsh or severe. Sometimes, however, mitigate appears where the similar-looking militate is expected. That word, which is often followed by against, means “to have weight or effect,” as in “your unexcused absences are likely to militate against your getting a promotion.” The two words are not closely related (mitigate comes from the Latin verb mitigare, meaning “to soften,” whereas militate traces to militare, meaning “to engage in warfare”), but the confusion between the two has existed for long enough that some usage commentators have accepted “mitigate against” as an idiomatic alternative to militate. Even William Faulkner used mitigate in this way in his 1932 short story, Centaur in Brass, writing “It's as though there were some intangible and invisible social force that mitigates against him.” But unless you’re Faulkner, it’s best to keep mitigate and militate distinct.
Examples of mitigate in a Sentence
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
Idaho Statesman, 24 Oct. 2025
Several of these nations are struggling with low population growth rates (the average annual percentage change in population) in general, according to the World Factbook's estimates for 2024, with less immigration to mitigate declining birth rates than in Western European countries.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
That said, family offices are flocking to cash not only to mitigate risk, but also to make opportunistic bets in the future, Ringham said.
—Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
The firm also recommended access to the whirley crane near the Riggers Loft building and Red Oak Victory Ship be immediately restricted until safety hazards from corrosion can be mitigated or the crane is removed.
—Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mitigate
Cite this Entry
“Mitigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mitigate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mitigate
verb
Medical Definition
mitigate
transitive verb
Legal Definition
mitigate
verb
Estate of Arrowwood v. State, 894 P.2d 642 (1995)
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