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GRE vocabulary

mitigate

verbHigh-frequency wordMore M words

to make less severe, painful, or harmful

Word origin: From Latin mitis, soft or mild, and agere, to make.

In a sentence

Mitigate in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing mitigate in a sentence.

Planting trees can mitigate the worst effects of urban heat.

Planting mangroves along the coast helped mitigate the storm surges that had repeatedly flooded the village.

Synonyms
alleviatelesseneasediminish
Antonyms
aggravateintensifyworsen
Usage & nuance

Using “mitigate” well

Mitigate means to make something less severe or harmful, applied to pain, damage, or punishment. Do not confuse it with militate, which means to have a strong influence, usually against something.

Common questions

Questions about “mitigate

Mitigate (verb) means to make less severe, painful, or harmful
Here is mitigate used in an example sentence: "Planting trees can mitigate the worst effects of urban heat." Another example: "Planting mangroves along the coast helped mitigate the storm surges that had repeatedly flooded the village."
Common synonyms for mitigate include alleviate, lessen, ease, diminish.
Antonyms of mitigate include aggravate, intensify, worsen.
Mitigate clusters with alleviate, lessen, ease, and diminish. Its antonyms aggravate, intensify, and worsen are frequent GRE answer choices, and the look-alike militate is a classic trap.
Yes. Mitigate is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

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