Mitigate
Storm walls, apologies with a plan, and smaller doses all try to shrink damage without pretending risk never existed.
Learn This WordMeaning
To make something less severe, serious, or painful; to reduce the harmful effect of something.
Memory trick
Think "MITI-gate" = a gate that makes things mild, letting problems through in a softer, smaller way.
Examples
The company introduced new safety checks to mitigate risk.
Drinking water can help mitigate the effects of dehydration.
They planted trees to mitigate flooding in the neighborhood.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Latin mitigare "to soften, make mild," from mitis "mild" + -igare (verb-forming).
Usage Notes
Common in policy, business, and science contexts (e.g., “mitigate risk,” “mitigate climate change”). It implies reducing impact, not eliminating it.
Real-life contexts
Use in work contexts: "Let’s mitigate the risk before we launch."
Use for problems: "What can we do to mitigate the damage?"
Use for planning: "A backup plan helps mitigate uncertainty."
Common Mistakes
Avoid using it as “mitigate against” in formal writing; prefer “mitigate” something or “mitigate” the impact/effects of something.
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Start LearningQuick Facts
Part of Speech
verb
Difficulty
intermediateMonthly Searches
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