Meaning & use
mitigate
To make a harmful effect, problem, or risk less severe.
See it in a sentence
Planting trees can help mitigate heat in a paved courtyard.
The team added backup power to mitigate the effects of an outage.
A note on using this word
Mitigate usually takes a problem or its effects as its object. Reducing harm does not necessarily remove its cause.
Words with a similar meaning
reducelessenalleviate
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mitigate”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.