Meaning & use
mitigation
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
Action taken to make something harmful less severe or less damaging.
Grammar: Often used with of or for: mitigation of risk.
Patterns
- mitigation of something
- mitigation measures
Flood mitigation includes building walls and restoring wetlands.
The report recommends mitigation of noise from the airport.
Climate mitigation aims to cut greenhouse gases.
noununcountablelegal
Facts or circumstances that make an offense seem less serious and may reduce a punishment.
Grammar: Used in court contexts, often with a plea or factor.
Patterns
- in mitigation
- a plea in mitigation
Her lawyer spoke in mitigation about her difficult childhood.
The judge accepted a plea in mitigation.
Lack of previous offenses was offered in mitigation.
Common combinations
- risk mitigation
- The team drew up a risk mitigation plan.
- in mitigation
- He pleaded guilty and offered family problems in mitigation.
- climate change mitigation
- Cities invest in climate change mitigation.
- mitigation measures
- The builders adopted mitigation measures to reduce dust.
- flood mitigation
- Flood mitigation saved the town.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reduction
- Reduction is a general word for making less, while mitigation specifically concerns harm or severity.
- alleviation
- Alleviation is used about pain or hardship felt by people, whereas mitigation also covers risks and damage.
- easing
- Easing is plain and informal, while mitigation is more official.
- damage control
- Damage control is informal and about limiting harm after it has begun.
Opposites
Word family
- mitigate verb
- to make something less harmful
- mitigating adjective
- making something less severe, as in mitigating circumstances
- mitigated adjective
- made less severe
- mitigator noun
- a person or thing that reduces harm
Commonly confused: mitigation or militate?
mitigation vs militate
Militate means to have an effect against something, while mitigate means to reduce its harm; the two are often confused.
Practice
Which is an example of risk mitigation?
Choose one answer.
Mitigation means lessening the harm of a possible event, and sprinklers do that. The other options leave risk unchanged or increase it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mitigation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.