mitigate

IELTS use

Useful in Writing Task 2 when discussing ways to reduce problems such as pollution, climate change, or health risks; also helps in speaking when suggesting practical solutions.

Examples

1. Governments should take urgent action to mitigate the effects of climate change.
2. Planting trees can mitigate the impact of urban flooding.
3. Public health campaigns aim to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases.
4. The new policy is designed to mitigate the risks associated with automation.

Collocations

mitigate the effects

Efforts to mitigate the effects of air pollution have proven difficult in densely populated cities.

mitigate the impact

Better building standards can mitigate the impact of earthquakes on homes.

mitigate risks

Insurance companies often require safety measures to mitigate risks.

mitigate the damage

Emergency teams worked quickly to mitigate the damage caused by the oil spill.

Word family

Noun

mitigation

Verb

mitigate

Adjective

mitigating

Paraphrases

• reduce the severity: Use when you want a more general and less formal way to explain mitigation.
• lessen the harmful effects: A clear alternative that emphasizes reducing negative consequences.
• alleviate: A near-synonym, though 'alleviate' often refers to direct problems such as pain or poverty.

Common mistakes

• mitigate the disease completely to mitigate the disease. Mitigate means to reduce, not eliminate, so adding 'completely' is contradictory.
• mitigate against the risk to mitigate the risk. 'Mitigate' is a transitive verb and must take a direct object without a preposition.
• mitigate from pollution to mitigate pollution. No preposition is needed after 'mitigate'.
• mitigate the problem in a certain extent to mitigate the problem to a certain extent. Use 'to a certain extent' to express degree, not 'in a certain extent'.