mitigation

noun

mit·​i·​ga·​tion ˌmi-tə-ˈgā-shən 

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, extensive, 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

Late last week, after Sharma contacted Phia to alert them to the issue and request mitigation steps, the company removed the feature that collected users’ HTML pages, but did not disclose the potential privacy violation to users or confirm what had happened to the data that had been transmitted. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2025

Climate advocates have pointed to other mitigation efforts beyond policy that could muddy the IEA’s forecasting. —Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 12 Nov. 2025

Advertisement Johnson also points to a generational shift in thinking, as younger people who are better-versed on the need for climate solutions and mitigation enter the workforce and the electorate. —Charlotte Hu, Time, 11 Nov. 2025

Trump scrapped a program dedicated to funding flood mitigation in low-income communities. —Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mitigation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Medical Definition

mitigation

noun

mit·​i·​ga·​tion ˌmit-ə-ˈgā-shən 

1

: the act of mitigating or state of being mitigated

the cure, prevention, or mitigation of disease

—Encyclopedia Americana

2

: something that mitigates

a large number of drugs and mitigations … at the clinic

—The Journal of the American Medical Association