facilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.).
Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.
-
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
- facilitative adjective
- facilitator noun
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.
The residues are sorted, ground and mixed with a maceration of gum arabic to facilitate ignition, and with clay to slow combustion.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn’t facilitate their efforts to investigate Elon Musk’s X, after a raid on the social-media platform’s Paris office earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
Tickner says some schools struggle to facilitate part-time or flexible staff, because of the need to have enough staff in school with the children each day.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised that "sham lawyers" who facilitate abuse of the asylum system "will face the full force of the law".
From BBC • Apr. 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.
