What does "mitigate" mean?

1. (to make less severe) to make a bad situation, a problem, or a feeling less harmful or painful.

How do you use "mitigate"?

Commonly used in professional and academic contexts regarding risk management or environmental impact.

Is it correct to say "The new laws will mitigate against the problem."?

No — say "The new laws will mitigate the problem.". In modern English, 'mitigate' is transitive and does not take the preposition 'against'. You may be thinking of 'militate against'.

mitigate

US //ˈmɪtəˌɡeɪt// UK //mˈɪtɪɡˌeɪt// mit·i·gate

1 to make less severe (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Formal Academic

to make a bad situation, a problem, or a feeling less harmful or painful.

to lessen the severity, intensity, or impact of something unpleasant or harmful. Transitive — requires a direct object such as 'risk', 'damage', or 'effects'.

Example

The government is taking steps to mitigate the effects of the rising cost of living.

Example

Engineers implemented several structural reinforcements to mitigate the risk of collapse during a major seismic event.

Usage

Commonly used in professional and academic contexts regarding risk management or environmental impact.

Teacher's tip

Learners often confuse 'mitigate' with 'militate'. Remind them that 'mitigate' means to soften a blow, while 'militate against' means to work against something.
Pitfall

The new laws will mitigate against the problem.

The new laws will mitigate the problem.

In modern English, 'mitigate' is transitive and does not take the preposition 'against'. You may be thinking of 'militate against'.

Etymology 1

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”), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁y- (“mild, soft”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English mitigat(e) (“mitigated”, also used as the past participle of mitigaten and of mitigate in Early Modern English), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.