mitigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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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)
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.
"We're trying to do what we can to mitigate these flies, it is quite a big pest," he said.
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2026
The workers who have less financial room to mitigate the financial and career consequences of caregiving, such as those who are paid hourly, are also the least likely to have access to benefits and protections.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
Lorenzo Baio, head of water resources for Legambiente Lombardy, said there had to be efforts "to mitigate the summer peak in water demand".
From Barron's • Jul. 4, 2026
The carrier has raised airfares to try and mitigate fuel costs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
Management actions at and in the immediate vicinity of airports do little to mitigate the risk of off-airport strikes during departure and approach.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
