mitigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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mitigates,
present (3rd person singular)
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mitigated,
past participle, past
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mitigating
present participle
-
to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.
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to make less severe.
to mitigate a punishment.
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to reduce the risk or impact of harmful conditions or events.
To mitigate flood damage, new building regulations are being developed.
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to make (a person, one's state of mind, disposition, etc.) milder or more gentle; mollify; appease.
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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)
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mitigates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mitigated,
past participle, past
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mitigating
present participle
verb
Usage
Mitigate is sometimes wrongly used where militate is meant: his behaviour militates (not mitigates ) against his chances of promotion
Commonly Confused
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
Derived Forms
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mitigationnoun
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mitigatornoun
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overmitigateverb
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mitigableadjective
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mitigativeadjective
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unmitigableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mitigatesimple
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mitigatessimple
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have mitigatedperfect
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has mitigatedperfect
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am mitigatingprogressive
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are mitigatingprogressive
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is mitigatingprogressive
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have been mitigatingperfect progressive
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has been mitigatingperfect progressive
Past
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mitigatedsimple
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had mitigatedperfect
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was mitigatingprogressive
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were mitigatingprogressive
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had been mitigatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mitigate
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; see -ate 1
Explanation
Choose the verb mitigate when something lessens the unpleasantness of a situation. You can mitigate your parents' anger by telling them you were late to dinner because you were helping your elderly neighbor. The somewhat formal verb mitigate comes from the Latin roots mītis, "soft," and agere, "to do/act," which add up to "to soften." It is often used with words that indicate an outcome or something harmful. When you buy car insurance, you are trying to mitigate the risks involved with driving. Sunscreen is used to mitigate the effects of the sun on your skin.
Vocabulary lists containing mitigate
Grade 10, List 6
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This Week in Words: August 25 - 31, 2018
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This Week in Words: October 6 - 12, 2018
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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.
See Examples For:
"Urgent adaptations are needed to mitigate the effects of successive heatwaves on plants and the insects that rely on them to thrive," the society said.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
A “low-key” campaign will mitigate the threat of dwindling supplies and high casualties, without necessarily providing Trump with a path to victory, said Stephen Biddle, a professor of international and public policy at Columbia University.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Chelsea had done plenty of work to mitigate those demands.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Kraft Heinz KHC -2.85%decrease; red down pointing triangle had lower profit and sales in the second quarter, but raised its sales outlook as it aims to mitigate higher supply costs by raising prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
In another time, if I felt it unavoidable, I would have presented the fact solely to mitigate the ill sweep of my own activities.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
“The company expects inventory levels to remain elevated as it mitigates this dynamic supply chain environment,” the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Moore said the facility has remained at 45 degrees, which mitigates the risk of it becoming a biohazard due to food spoilage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
While China relies on oil imports, "it mitigates this exposure through diversified suppliers, ties with Iran, substantial strategic reserves and continued reliance on coal", she said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
But he added that the products Arm designs for that part of the market come with “dramatically smaller royalties,” which mitigates the potential impact on Arm’s business.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
He says it does not cut short the attack, but mitigates the paroxysm.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
That could have mitigated the Dodgers’ huge advantage in slugging.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
“Rising component costs are mitigated given Apple’s bargaining power against consumers and the supply chain.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
The attention economy is often portrayed helpfully by media outlets as an individual problem to be mitigated by reducing our own dependence on screens and devices.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Given the power of some AI models, there’s a question of whether governments regulate how this technology is rolled out, if it hurts job creation, and how that is mitigated.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Time mitigated his mad proposal, but it aggravated his feelings of frustration.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"The limited extension during this period makes a temporary contribution to mitigating the exposure of the electricity system and Spanish consumers to previously unforeseen price spikes," said the announcement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
It has said the company is committed to mitigating environmental effects at its facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Abatzoglou hypothesized the region’s link between wildfires and soil moisture could cause the mitigating effects of the preceding El Niño to linger longer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Fifa disciplinary committee takes into account "both aggravating and mitigating circumstances", and it has the power to enforce the ban globally.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Further, I want to prevail upon this Court to consider this boy’s plea of guilty as evidence mitigating his punishment.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
