PTE Word of the Week: ‘Mitigate’ — and how to use it for a higher score
‘Mitigate’ is one of the highest-value academic verbs for PTE. Here's what it means, the exact collocations to memorise, example sentences for essays and speaking, and the mistakes to avoid.
Published 7 June 2026 · 3 min read · PTE Mocks editorial team
In one line
Mitigate (verb, /ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/) — to make something bad less severe. It's one of the highest-value academic verbs you can drop into a PTE essay or spoken answer to sound precise and fluent.
What it means
To mitigate something is to reduce how serious, painful or damaging it is — without necessarily removing it completely. You mitigate a risk, an effect, a consequence or damage. The noun is mitigation (“flood-mitigation measures”).
Why it scores in PTE
PTE's automated scorer rewards a precise, varied vocabulary and well-linked ideas — the Vocabulary and Written/Oral Discourse traits. A word like “mitigate” does more work than “reduce” or “make less bad”: it's exact, academic and natural in the cause-and-effect sentences essays and Describe Image answers are built on. Used correctly, it lifts your range without sounding forced.
Collocations to memorise
- mitigate the effects / impact of — “steps to mitigate the effects of climate change”
- mitigate the risk of — “regular testing mitigates the risk of failure”
- mitigate the damage / consequences
- measures / steps to mitigate
- help (to) mitigate — “trees help mitigate urban heat”
Example sentences
- Essay: “Governments can mitigate the impact of automation by funding large-scale retraining programmes.”
- Summarize Written Text: “The author argues that early intervention can mitigate the long-term effects of childhood stress.”
- Describe Image: “The chart suggests renewable energy could mitigate the steep rise in emissions after 2010.”
- Speaking (Re-tell Lecture): “The speaker explained how green roofs mitigate the urban heat-island effect.”
How to use it for a higher score
Reach for “mitigate” in any answer about problems and solutions — environment, technology, health, society. It fits the classic essay move: state a problem, then a measure that mitigates it. In speaking, it keeps you fluent because the collocations (“mitigate the effects of…”) come out as a single chunk, so you don't hesitate.
Common mistakes to avoid
- “mitigate against” is widely considered incorrect — you mitigate something, not against it. (If you mean “work against”, the word is militate against.)
- It means reduce, not eliminate — don't write “mitigate the problem completely”.
- It's a verb. The noun is mitigation; there is no “a mitigate”.
Words in the same family
alleviate (ease suffering — alleviate poverty/pain), curb (limit — curb spending), lessen, offset (counterbalance) and ease. Rotate these so you're not repeating one word across an essay — variety is exactly what the Vocabulary trait rewards.
Frequently asked
What does ‘mitigate’ mean?
To make something bad less severe or serious. You mitigate a risk, an effect or damage — you reduce it, though not necessarily remove it entirely.
Is ‘mitigate’ good to use in a PTE essay?
Yes. It signals precise, academic vocabulary, which lifts your Vocabulary and Written Discourse traits — as long as you use it naturally and correctly in a problem-and-solution sentence.
What's the difference between ‘mitigate’ and ‘alleviate’?
Both reduce something negative. ‘Mitigate’ leans toward reducing severity or risk (mitigate the impact); ‘alleviate’ leans toward easing suffering or a burden (alleviate poverty, alleviate pain).
How do you pronounce ‘mitigate’?
/ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/ — MIT-i-gate. Three syllables, with the stress on the first.
Put it to the test
Free, full-length PTE mock tests, scored by AI — see where you really stand.