palliate

American  

[pal-ee-eyt] / ˈpæl iˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• palliates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• palliated,
  past participle,  past
• palliating
  present participle

1. to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate.

2. to try to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (an offense) by excuses, apologies, etc.; extenuate.

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palliate British  

/ ˈpælɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. to lessen the severity of (pain, disease, etc) without curing or removing; alleviate; mitigate

2. to cause (an offence) to seem less serious by concealing evidence; extenuate

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• palliation
  noun
• palliator
  noun
• unpalliated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• palliating
  present
• palliated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• palliate
  simple
• palliates
  simple
• have palliated
  perfect
• has palliated
  perfect
• am palliating
  progressive
• are palliating
  progressive
• is palliating
  progressive
• have been palliating
  perfect progressive
• has been palliating
  perfect progressive

Past

• palliated
  simple
• had palliated
  perfect
• was palliating
  progressive
• were palliating
  progressive
• had been palliating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will palliate
  simple
• will have palliated
  perfect
• will be palliating
  progressive
• will have been palliating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of palliate

First recorded in 1540–50, palliate is from the Late Latin word palliātus cloaked, covered. See pallium, -ate ¹

Explanation

When you palliate something, you try to make something less bad: “City leaders tried to palliate effects of the trash haulers' strike by distributing extra large garbage cans with tight-fitting lids.” Palliate is the word to use when you want to make something feel or seem better. Palliate doesn’t mean “cure” or “solve.” Instead, something that palliates relieves the symptoms or consequences of something, without addressing the underlying cause. Your dentist might give you pain-killing drugs to palliate the discomfort caused by an impacted molar, but that molar is still there, waiting to cause more trouble.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

palliate palliates palliated palliating

The easing of lockdown restrictions coincides with preparations by the cash-strapped Caribbean island nation for its tourist high season, which it hopes will bring much-needed dollars to palliate a dire economic crisis.

From Reuters ● Sep. 24, 2021

His role, he said, was “not to ‘sell’ the U.S.A. but to ‘explain’ it, not to palliate its blemishes but to contextualize them.”

From New York Times ● May 3, 2016

Results palliate everything, but without them significant fault lines are exposed.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 2, 2015

Ultimately, biomedical research offers no value to the public if our work does not result in the availability of safe and effective interventions to cure, treat, palliate, diagnose, and prevent disease.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 4, 2013

You have not sought to palliate your offence; nor are you the man to misconstrue the little I may have said concerning the offence itself.

From Peccavi by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

Counting it no doubt palliates if not deadens any reservations.

From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2017

But the art that palliates Humbert’s misery has not notably relieved the distress of reviewers, most of whom have felt obliged to ask themselves, “Why has the author done this horrid thing?”

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 1, 1958

The probability of mental derangement palliates the absurdity of this system in the originator, but throws the burden of responsibility from the master upon those who are insane enough to adopt it.

From History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion by Adam Storey Farrar

Who does not see that this is a remedy which aggravates, whilst it palliates the countless diseases of society?

From Percy Bysshe Shelley as a Philosopher and Reformer by Charles W. Frederickson

But now, to solidify all his future--to take a secure place in society, especially as his leanings toward politics are pronounced--to do these things--this palliates and excuses the adoption of the golden-haired boy.

From David Lockwin—The People's Idol by John McGovern

Hazelgrove argued "not all pain can be palliated" as she spoke in favour of the bill.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The calls palliated some of Collins’s guilt, but not all of it.

From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019

Brogan: So you’ve done this, you’ve obliterated the aneurysm, removed or palliated the tumor, what’s next?

From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2017

Charm and high purposes palliated the pure ether of his arrogance.

From US News ● Apr. 9, 2015

The inconvenience of this system in record-keeping is palliated by various devices, for instance reference to well-known events, reigns of kings, dynasties, local lords, etc.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

On the one hand, if he finds significant results, it could lead to groundbreaking methods for palliating some of the world’s problems.

From Scientific American ● May 18, 2011

With no palliating wage increases, labor grows daily surlier.

From Time Magazine Archive

The eventual answer, however, lies not in palliating deprivation but in enabling the young to escape the self-regenerating cycle that has trapped their parents in poverty.

From Time Magazine Archive

This saving clause gave the German note the aspect of a preliminary to the usual backdown and to an admission of liability, with the palliating excuse of ignorance of the vessel's identity.

From The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 8) Battle of Jutland Bank; Russian Offensive; Kut-El-Amara; East Africa; Verdun; The Great Somme Drive; United States and Belligerents; Summary of Two Years' War by Allen L. (Allen Leon) Churchill

And then the men in this case were police—a palliating circumstance!

From She's All the World to Me by Sir Hall Caine