Master confusing words with ease
Militate vs. Mitigate
Militate
Examples:
His lack of effort may militate against his promotion.Their arguments will hardly militate for a drastic change.Circumstances did not militate in their favor this time.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Mitigate
/ˈmɪtəɡeɪt/Examples:
The company took steps to mitigate the potential risks.Strategies were developed to mitigate environmental damage.He worked tirelessly to mitigate the community's concerns.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Militate has the sounds mil like military, to remind you it relates to action or influence, typically in a negative sense.
- Mitigate contains miti-, similar to middle, which can remind you it often means to soften or lessen something.
- While militate implies exerting pressure or influence, mitigate is about reducing impact or severity.
- Think of militate as increasing tension, while mitigate decreases tension.
- Remember that mitigate often involves making a situation less severe, unlike militate which involves causing an effect.
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