mitigate

Verb

Verb Forms: mitigated, mitigating, mitigates

To make something less severe, serious, or painful.
lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
make less severe or harsh
To reduce, lessen, or decrease and thereby to make less severe or easier to bear.
To downplay.
To give force or effect toward preventing a problem.

Adj

mitigated, alleviated

Examples

He tried to MITIGATE his opponent’s strong board position with a blocking play.
We've mitigated against the chance of flooding.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English mitigaten (“to relieve pain, soothe; (swelling) to abate; (hemorrhoids) to relieve; (the mind) to placate, appease; to end, check; to stop, cease”), from mitigat(e) (“mitigated, alleviated, relived”, also used as the past participle of mitigaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin mītigātus, the perfect passive participle of mītigō (“to make soft, ripe; to tame, pacify”), from mītis (“gentle, mild, ripe”) + -igō (“to do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁i- (“mild, soft”).

Synonyms

extenuate, palliate, alleviate, check, diminish, ease, lighten, militate, mollify, pacify

Antonyms

aggrandize, aggravate, exacerbate, incite, increase, intensify, irritate, worsen

Scrabble Score: 11

mitigate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
mitigate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
mitigate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

mitigate: valid Words With Friends Word