mitigate

[mit-i-geyt]

verb (used with object)

mitigated, mitigating 

1. to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.

2. to make less severe.

   to mitigate a punishment.

3. to reduce the risk or impact of harmful conditions or events.

   To mitigate flood damage, new building regulations are being developed.

4. to make (a person, one's state of mind, disposition, etc.) milder or more gentle; mollify; appease.

5. Environmental Science.,  to restore or recreate (a habitat) in order to make up for losses due to development or agriculture.

   No one has tried anything on this scale before to mitigate the grasslands bird habitat.

verb (used without object)

mitigated, mitigating 

1. to become milder; lessen in severity.

mitigate

/ ˈmɪtɪɡəbəl, ˈmɪtɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. to make or become less severe or harsh; moderate

Usage

Mitigate is sometimes wrongly used where militate is meant: his behaviour militates (not mitigates ) against his chances of promotion

Confusables Note

Mitigate, whose central meaning is “to lessen” or “to make less severe,” is sometimes confused with militate, which means “to have effect or influence; weigh on.” This mix-up often occurs in the use of the phrase mitigate against, as follows: This criticism in no way mitigates (read militates ) against your going ahead with your research. Although this use of mitigate occasionally occurs in edited writing, it is rare and is widely regarded as an error.

Other Word Forms

• mitigable adjective
• mitigation noun
• mitigator noun
• overmitigate verb
• unmitigable adjective
• mitigative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mitigate¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English mitigaten, from Latin mītigātus (past participle of mītigāre “to calm, soften, soothe”), equivalent to mīt(is) “mild, soft, gentle” + -ig- (combining form of agere “to do, cause to do, make”) + -ātus verb suffix; -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of mitigate¹

C15: from Latin mītigāre, from mītis mild + agere to make

Example Sentences

She decided to skip dental insurance during open enrollment this month to mitigate increases to her overall premiums, and she downgraded her home insurance policy to a higher-deductible option with lower yearly payments.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

To rewind: Metro approved the gondola project last year, but a court ordered a second look at whether the environmental impact report truly had evaluated all that could be done to mitigate construction noise.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They may also reflect more lenders and borrowers turning to measures to mitigate distress, such as payment-in-kind agreements, she said.

Read more on Barron's

He added that while 90% of data currently created in space is lost, additional infrastructure could mitigate that issue.

Read more on MarketWatch

“I haven’t been provided any documentation to show me that the risk was never there or it’s been mitigated.”

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• allay 
• alleviate 
• assuage 
• blunt 
• dull 
• ease 
• lessen 
• mollify 
• reduce 
• relieve 
• remediate 
• soften 
• soothe 
• temper 
• weaken