mitigating Definition

mitigate
verb mitigated, mitigating

1. law.
To partially excuse something or make it less serious.
Thesaurus: relieve, lessen, moderate, allay, assuage, ease, dull, mollify, palliate, slake, subdue; Antonym: aggravate, exacerbate, increase.
2. To make (pain, anger, etc) less severe.

Derivative: mitigation
noun

The action of making something less severe
Thesaurus: moderation, relief, alleviation, reduction, remission, abatement, diminution; Antonym: aggravation, increase.

Derivative: mitigating
adj

Example: mitigating circumstances
Thesaurus: extenuating, vindicating, palliating, qualifying.

Derivative: mitigator
noun

Serving to partially excuse something or make it less severe

Etymology: 15c: from Latin mitigare to calm or soothe.

Info:

○ Mitigate is a transitive verb, and is often confused with militate, which is intransitive and has another meaning (to militate against something).

Mitigate is correctly used as in the following example:

○ It is incorrectly used in the following example, in which militates is wanted: