Mitigate: meaning, example and synonyms

Mitigatev. To make something bad less severe, serious, or painful.

Flashcard for Mitigate (verb): to make something bad less severe, serious, or painful. Example: To mitigate the effects of rising temperatures, the city planted thousands of shade trees along its most heavily paved streets. Synonyms: alleviate, lessen, ease, reduce. Antonyms: aggravate, intensify, worsen, exacerbate. Memory tip: Mitigate sounds like "mitten": a mitten softens the bite of the cold. Illustration: a large umbrella sheltering a family from heavy rain.

Example

To mitigate the effects of rising temperatures, the city planted thousands of shade trees along its most heavily paved streets.

Part of speech
verb
Synonyms
alleviate, lessen, ease, reduce
Antonyms
aggravate, intensify, worsen, exacerbate
Memory tip
Mitigate sounds like "mitten": a mitten softens the bite of the cold.

Add Mitigate to your spaced-repetition deck. No account needed; progress is saved on this device.

Open the study app

Check yourself: Mitigate in context

Pick the word that best completes each text, as on the SAT's words-in-context questions.

Question 1

Engineers added a series of wetlands upstream to ______ flooding, slowing the water before it reached the town.

Question 2

Planting cover crops in winter can ______ soil erosion, since the roots hold the earth in place when heavy rains arrive.

All 20 words in the deck · Quiz yourself on every word