V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary
mitigate
verb
Definition: 1. to make something less harsh, severe, or violent; 2. to make an offense or crime less serious or more excusable
Synonyms: relieve, lessen, assuage, ease, excuse, soften, extenuate
Antonyms: intensify, aggravate, augment
Tips: Mitigate is derived from the Latin word mitigatus, past participle of mitigare, “to make mild,” and ultimately from mitis, “gentle, soft” and agere, “to make.” Mitigate is often used in business to refer to relieving risk. The related adjective mitigating refers to lessening the severity of an action. (examples: "Are there any mitigating (excusing) factors for why she was so obnoxious?" "I believe his upstanding record prior to his DUI will be a mitigating (excusing, lessening) factor when he is sentenced by the judge.") The related adjective unmitigated usually refers to something bad that has no good or mitigating (softening) qualities: "The tsunami was an unmitigated disaster." See the related verb extenuate for additional analysis.
Usage Examples:
The physician group paid more for insurance to mitigate their malpractice liability. (lessen, ease)
The company required all employees to sign a policy form on sexual harassment in order to mitigate its liability in future harassment cases. (assuage, lessen)
His recent success mitigated the failures of his earlier years. (relieved, excused)
Corporate executives are trying to mitigate the greedy image some people have of them. (soften, lessen)
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