facilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.).
Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.
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to lead or moderate (a discussion, workshop, etc.), especially as a person trained to do so.
An instructor will facilitate the online discussions, providing students with the questions beforehand.
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to assist the progress of (a person).
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of facilitate
First recorded in 1605–15; facilit(y) + -ate 1
Explanation
To facilitate means to make something easier. If your best friend is very shy, you could facilitate her efforts to meet new people. Facilitate comes from the Latin facilis, for "easy." It means to make something easier or more likely to happen. You facilitate growth or a process, as opposed to, say, dinner. Often in business meetings someone will be assigned to facilitate a discussion so people don't just sit in awkward silence. Synonyms are ease, simplify, expedite, and assist.
Vocabulary lists containing facilitate
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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Make Do: Fac
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ACT Vocabulary List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
PJM will hold an auction in September, moved up from September 2027, to facilitate power sales from new plants to data centers.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
However, the FTC conducted a study finding eight different companies functioned as intermediaries to facilitate surveillance pricing for over 250 companies across grocery, apparel, home goods, convenience, car rentals, online casinos and more.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
Lu - the 64-year-old president of the American Changle Association, a Chinese community group - argued he was simply trying to help people renew driver's licenses and facilitate social activities like mahjong and ping pong.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
It has many tools to persecute people who exercise or facilitate reproductive freedom within its borders.
From Slate • May 15, 2026
These people, for the reasons already given, can open the way to that dominion and facilitate your victory.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
