Words / C1

MIT-ig-ayt/ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/

Mitigate means make something less harmful, severe, or painful — you do not remove it, you soften its effects. Native policy and academic writing prefers mitigate risk, mitigate harm, mitigate the impact. Reduce is broader (make smaller in amount). Alleviate is common with pain or hardship. You mitigate a problem; you do not usually “mitigate a number.”

Meaning

To make something less harmful or severe.

Examples

• “Planting trees can mitigate heat in the city.”
• “Better insulation can mitigate the effects of cold weather.”
• “The firm took steps to mitigate legal risk.”

Good to know

mitigate = lessen harm/severity. reduce = make smaller. Not a synonym for solve.

Near in meaning

lessen

New