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Definition of "palliate" [pal•li•ate]

  • To make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate. (verb-transitive)
  • To make less severe or intense; mitigate: tried unsuccessfully to palliate the widespread discontent. (verb-transitive)
  • To relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "palliate" in a sentence
  • "The word palliate comes from the Latin palliare, “to cloak”—and providing pain relief was perceived as cloaking the essence of the illness, smothering symptoms rather than attacking disease."
  • "Both are exceedingly gifted individuals with enviable human qualities; both were once cherished friends to me; and both, I think, use rage and spite to palliate their unhealed wounds."
  • "With mid-term elections on the horizon and the influence of former president Lula sidetracked by treatment to palliate his larengyal cancer, Brazil's latest political carnival could find William Waack at the front of the parade."