Words / C2

PAL-ee-ayt/ˈpælieɪt/

To palliate is to make a disease or problem less severe without curing it: palliate the shortage, palliative care. Ease is everyday; alleviate is a close academic cousin; soothe is milder. Palliation and palliative are the related forms (palliative measures). Formal, medical and political. In speech, ease without fixing is enough. Palliate can also mean disguise the seriousness of a fault (palliate an offence). Do not call a real cure palliation.

Meaning

To make a disease or problem less severe without curing it (formal).

Examples

• “The measures only palliate the shortage.”
• “The measures only palliate the shortage; they do not recruit the missing teachers.”
• “Palliative care eased the pain; nobody pretended it was a cure.”

Good to know

Ease without curing (formal). Everyday: ease / take the edge off. Close: alleviate. Related: palliative. Also: gloss over a fault. Contrast: cure / remedy.

Near in meaning

alleviate

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