mitigate

Everyday

1. (formal) To make something bad less serious, less painful or less harmful. tree →
2. (law) To make a wrong action seem less bad, so a punishment may be lighter: «mitigating circumstances». tree →

In the lessons

Exam voice and news: «measures to mitigate climate change», «mitigate the risk of floods». In safety and science: sandbags mitigate flooding. In law and ethics lessons: «mitigating circumstances» are facts that make a person less to blame (for example, they were very young or tricked). Phrases: «mitigate the effects», «mitigate the damage», «mitigating factors».

Examples

• Planting trees can help mitigate flooding. tree →
• The new crossing will mitigate the danger to children. tree →
• Saying sorry quickly may mitigate your punishment. tree →
• Engineers built walls to mitigate the damage from storms. tree →
• The judge said there were mitigating circumstances. tree →
• We shut the windows to mitigate the noise. tree →
• Wearing sun cream mitigates the risk of sunburn. tree →

Note

Regular verb: mitigated. Formal; everyday words: «reduce», «ease», «soften», «lessen». Common error: «militate against» is a different phrase (to work against) – do not write «mitigate against». Mitigate means to make less bad, not to remove completely.