palliate

pal·li·ate | \ ˈpa-lē-ˌāt

palliated; palliating

Definition of palliate

1 : to reduce the violence of (a disease) also : to ease (symptoms) without curing the underlying disease drugs to palliate the pain

2 : to cover by excuses and apologies tried to palliate his blunder

3 : to moderate the intensity of trying to palliate the boredom did nothing to palliate the bitter disputes

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Did You Know?

Long ago, the ancient Romans had a name for the cloak-like garb that was worn by the Greeks (distinguishing it from their own "toga"); the name was "pallium." In the 15th century, English speakers modified the Late Latin word palliatus, which derives from "pallium," to form "palliate." Our term, used initially as both an adjective and a verb, never had the literal Latin sense referring to the cloak you wear, but it took on the figurative "cloak" of protection. Specifically, the verb "palliate" meant (as it still can mean) "to lessen the intensity of a disease." Nowadays, "palliate" can be used as a synonym of "gloss" or "whitewash" when someone is attempting to disguise something bad.

Examples of palliate in a Sentence

treatments that can palliate the painful symptoms of the disease don't try to palliate your constant lying by claiming that everybody lies

Recent Examples on the Web And growing evidence of its propensity to palliate pain and nausea fueled the push for medical marijuana. — Special To The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, "'Grass Roots' chronicles marijuana laws' disjointed history in the U.S.," 12 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'palliate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.