mitigated
Americanadjective
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lessened in force, severity, or intensity; moderated.
He received a mitigated sentence, with parole offered sooner than is customary.
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(of a person, state of mind, etc.) made milder, gentler, less hostile, etc.; mollified or appeased.
Several members expressed opinions lauding the proposal, but what is still more encouraging is the mitigated tone of its opponents.
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Environmental Science. (of a habitat) restored or re-created in order to make up for losses due to development or agriculture.
Here the path begins to weave among five ponds that are part of a mitigated wetland installed at the nature museum in 1998.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mitigated
First recorded in 1540–50; mitigate ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; mitigate ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Explanation
Use the adjective mitigated to describe something that's been made less serious. If your friend gets a serious case of food poisoning, news of her mitigated symptoms will make you feel relieved. When something has lessened in intensity or seriousness, you can call it mitigated. If a judge decides on a mitigated sentence for your brother the car thief, it means he's not in quite as much trouble as he might have been, and you could say that hosting movie night at your house has mitigated, or reduced, the money you spend at the theater. The Latin root word, mitigatus, means make mild or gentle.
Vocabulary lists containing mitigated
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, Chapters 21–26
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Where You See Yourself
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The Prince and The Pauper
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Rising component costs are mitigated given Apple’s bargaining power against consumers and the supply chain.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
The attention economy is often portrayed helpfully by media outlets as an individual problem to be mitigated by reducing our own dependence on screens and devices.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
“They can only be mitigated by all of us working together.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Taneja noted that the company’s existing zero-trust architecture, network segmentation and secondary controls would have mitigated the flaws that were found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
With that help, the chaos that had brought him to this cage would be reined in and the misunderstanding manifested here would be mitigated.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.