verb
mitigate
MIHT-ih-gayt
verb
1
To make something less severe, harmful, or serious.
"The new policy is designed to mitigate the effects of climate change."
"Wearing a seatbelt helps mitigate injury in a crash."
How to Use Mitigate
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo lessen how bad something is — to soften its impact rather than eliminate it entirely.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "militate," which means to have a strong influence against something — "militate against" not "mitigate against."
Easily confused with
militate
Common pairings
mitigate risk
mitigate the damage
mitigating circumstances
Word Forms
more mitigate comparative, mitigated past tense, mitigates singular, most mitigate superlative
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The new policy is designed to _____ the effects of climate change.
Etymology
From Latin mitigare, "to soften or make gentle," from mitis, "mild."