Militate vs mitigate
Militate means to act as a force for or against a result, and it usually comes with against. Mitigate means to make something bad less serious.
Militate shares milit- with military, from the Latin word for soldier: picture a force pushing for or against something.
militate verb
To work as a force that makes a result more likely or less likely.
- Several factors militate against a quick settlement, including the sheer number of claims.
- His lack of experience militated against his promotion.
mitigate verb
To make something bad, like a problem or its effects, less severe or easier to bear.
- The city planted thousands of trees to mitigate the effects of summer heat.
- Wearing a helmet can mitigate the damage from a fall.
Watch out
- Mitigate against is often heard, but it is nonstandard. Use militate against, or mitigate with no against.The new backup system will mitigate the risk of data loss.
- In formal and legal use, mitigate can also mean to make a wrong act seem less serious or less deserving of blame, as in mitigating circumstances.The judge said that his youth did not mitigate the seriousness of the crime.
Test yourself
Sandbags along the river helped blank the flood damage.
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mitigate. The sandbags made something bad less severe.
The high cost of the project may blank against its approval.
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militate. The cost works as a force against a result, so militate against fits.
Doctors gave her medicine to blank the pain.
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mitigate. The medicine makes the pain less severe.
Bad weather and poor roads blank against a quick rescue.
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militate. These things act as forces that make a quick rescue less likely.
Full entries: militatemitigate