mitigate

verb/ˈmɪt.ə.ɡeɪt/
Reduction

To make something less severe, harmful, or painful.

mitigate riskmitigate the effectsmitigate damage

ExampleThe policy was designed to mitigate the effects of inflation.

ExampleThe new evidence mitigated the force of the critic's objection.

Usage Scenarios

Policy or solution language

Use mitigate when an action reduces a harmful effect.

ExampleThe new regulation helped mitigate the environmental impact of the factory.

Argument evaluation

Use it when evidence weakens a criticism without eliminating it.

ExampleThe author's admission mitigates, but does not erase, the flaw in the argument.

Usage Guide

Use mitigate when a sentence describes making a problem less serious. It fits contexts involving damage, risk, criticism, conflict, pain, or negative consequences.

Strong chunks include mitigate risk, mitigate damage, mitigate the effects, and mitigate criticism. These collocations keep the reduction meaning clear.

Do not use mitigate when the problem disappears entirely. Mitigate usually means reduce, soften, or make less severe.

Word Forms & Word Building

Mitigate is built on a root idea of making something mild or less severe; the verb takes objects such as damage, risk, effects, or severity.

Mitigation is the noun, formed with the suffix -ion, and means the act or process of reducing harm.

Mitigating is the -ing adjective form in phrases like mitigating factor.

Meaning Boundaries

Mitigate vs eliminate

Eliminate means remove completely. Mitigate means make a harmful effect less severe while some part of the problem remains.

Mitigate vs alleviate

Alleviate often describes pain, suffering, or burden. Mitigate is broader and common with risks and effects.

Register

Mitigate is formal and useful in GRE arguments, policy contexts, and analytical prose.

Memory Tricks

Think make milder. Mitigate softens the bad effect.

Pair it with negative nouns: risk, harm, damage, effect, criticism.

In GRE clues, look for not eliminate but reduce. That points toward mitigate.

Common Traps

Do not say mitigate against in standard GRE usage. Use mitigate the effect or mitigate risk.

Do not use mitigate for positive things; it reduces negatives.