mitigation

noun

mit·​i·​ga·​tion ˌmi-tə-ˈgā-shən How to pronounce mitigation (audio)
plural mitigations
: the act of mitigating something or the state of being mitigated : the process or result of making something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, or damaging
mitigation of suffering
mitigation of punishment
There was, in sum, a period during the Cold War … when a mitigation of the Cold War, including a renegotiation of some of its most troublesome tensions, was possible or even probable.John Lukacs

Examples of mitigation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The rise of smart home integration is enabling radon mitigation systems to respond dynamically. Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2025 For all of the extenuating circumstances and points made in mitigation by Tudor, Juventus have taken just three points from fixtures that yielded nine in the corresponding games last season. James Horncastle, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025 Screen time is a systemic issue, so an individual response—your screen-time monitoring, your screen-time mitigation—will likely be of little use. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025 In another climate change mitigation push, the company aims to reach zero landfill waste for its Naia spinning production in the United States by 2030. Sarah Jones, Sourcing Journal, 20 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mitigation

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mitigation was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Mitigation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mitigation. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

Medical Definition

mitigation

noun
mit·​i·​ga·​tion ˌmit-ə-ˈgā-shən How to pronounce mitigation (audio)
1
: the act of mitigating or state of being mitigated
the cure, prevention, or mitigation of diseaseEncyclopedia Americana
2
: something that mitigates
a large number of drugs and mitigations … at the clinicThe Journal of the American Medical Association

More from Merriam-Webster on mitigation

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