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pal·li·ate
 palliate
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- pronunciation:
- pae
li
eIt
| part of speech: |
transitive verb |
| inflections: |
palliates, palliating, palliated |
| definition 1: |
to lessen the effect of; make less severe, esp. without curing.
Her pain was palliated by her father's sympathy.- synonyms:
- allay, alleviate, assuage, mitigate, relieve
- similar words:
- appease, blunt, buff, buffer, dull, ease, moderate, soothe, temper
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| definition 2: |
to try to cause (an offense) to seem less severe, as by apologies or excuses.
He palliated his crime by pleading ignorance of the law.- synonyms:
- extenuate
- similar words:
- excuse, gloss, minimize, mitigate, rationalize, temper, tone down
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| related words: |
alleviate, appease, buff, buffer, dull, excuse, gloss, hush, mince, moderate, mollify, pacify, soothe |
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| derivations: |
palliation (n.), palliator (n.) |
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