palliate

UK: /ˈpælɪˌeɪt/ US: /ˈpæliˌeɪt/ ,(pal′ē āt′)

Inflections of 'palliate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

palliates

v 3rd person singular

palliating

v pres p

palliated

v past

palliated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pal•li•ate /ˈpæliˌeɪt/   v. [~ + object] , -at•ed, -at•ing. 

1. Medicine to relieve (pain, etc.) without curing; alleviate:
   to palliate a chronic disease.
2. to try to make (a wrong act or an offense) seem less serious by giving excuses, etc.:
   to palliate his crime by claiming it was necessary in order to feed his family.

pal•li•a•tion /ˌpæliˈeɪʃən/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pal•li•ate  (pal′ē āt′), v.t., -at•ed, -at•ing. 

1. Medicine to relieve or lessen without curing;
   mitigate;
   alleviate.
2. to try to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (an offense) by excuses, apologies, etc.;
   extenuate.

• Late Latin palliātus cloaked, covered. See pallium, -ate¹
• 1540–50

pal′li•a′tion, n. 
pal′li•a′tor, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

palliate / ˈpælɪˌeɪt/ verb (transitive)

1. to lessen the severity of (pain, disease, etc) without curing or removing; alleviate; mitigate
2. to cause (an offence) to seem less serious by concealing evidence; extenuate

Etymology: 16th Century: from Late Latin palliāre to cover up, from Latin pallium a cloak, pallium

ˌpalliˈation noun