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“mitigate”
militate, mitigate
militate (MIL uh tayt") (verb)
1. To have an influence, especially a negative one, on something to make it unlikely to happen or to prevent it from happening: Bill's inexperience will militate against him getting an early promotion.
2. To have weight or an effect on something; to serve as a strong influence: Danny's youthful appearance can only militate against him getting into a high position in the company, at least for now.
2. To have weight or an effect on something; to serve as a strong influence: Danny's youthful appearance can only militate against him getting into a high position in the company, at least for now.
mitigate (MIT uh gayt") (verb)
1. To make an offense or crime less serious or more excusable: The lawyer tried to mitigate the circumstances of his client's crime so the punishment or penalty would be reduced, because evidence was produced that encouraged and enabled the judge to be more lenient.
2. To make something less harsh, severe, or violent; to moderate in force or intensity: There's no way to mitigate the effect of that unfavorable report.
2. To make something less harsh, severe, or violent; to moderate in force or intensity: There's no way to mitigate the effect of that unfavorable report.
These two often-confused words have different, mutually exclusive meanings and they function in different ways.
Militate does not take a noun object, but is followed by a preposition, often "against", plus a noun. It means "to have an influence, especially a negative one, on something": "Trade sanctions militate [not mitigate] against international cooperation."
Mitigate needs a noun object and means "to lessen the impact or degree of seriousness of something undesirable"; for example, "A six-month suspended sentence unfairly mitigates the seriousness of a vehicular homicide. There were mitigating circumstances beyond his control."
This entry is located in the following units:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group M; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 4)
milit-
(page 2)
mitigate (verb), mitigates; mitigated; mitigating
1. To make something less severe, less harsh; easier to bear: The painkiller that Jack took to mitigate or to relieve the soreness of his recent operation was to be taken before going to bed at night.
2. To lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of something: The science teacher, Mr. Tree, gave the students the assignment to write down ways or means that might mitigate the global warming that was becoming quite serious with time.
3. To decrease in force or intensity: Wrath, grief, harshness, or pain can be mitigated to become moderate again.
4. To make a situation or condition milder or more gentle; to mollify; to appease: to alleviate: The town tried to mitigate poverty by providing free meals at the town hall.
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© ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
2. To lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of something: The science teacher, Mr. Tree, gave the students the assignment to write down ways or means that might mitigate the global warming that was becoming quite serious with time.
3. To decrease in force or intensity: Wrath, grief, harshness, or pain can be mitigated to become moderate again.
4. To make a situation or condition milder or more gentle; to mollify; to appease: to alleviate: The town tried to mitigate poverty by providing free meals at the town hall.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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This entry is located in the following units:
ag-, agen-, act-, agi-, agit-
(page 12)
-igate, -egate +
(page 1)
miti-
(page 1)