Make Your Point > Archived Issues > UNMITIGATED

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"UNMITIGATED" Meaning: When you mitigate something, you make it less bad, less hostile, or less troublesome. So, something unmitigated is just as bad, hostile, or troublesome as it can possibly be: nothing has happened to make it any less so. You can also describe things more loosely as unmitigated and just mean that they're absolute, utter, and total. Pronunciation: un MID uh gay did Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like “large” or “late.” They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in “an unmitigated disgrace.” 2. After a linking verb, as in "The disgrace was unmitigated.”) Other forms: mitigate, mitigated, mitigating; unmitigatedly How to use it: Sometimes you use this word in a positive sense to mean "absolute, utter, or complete," in which case you talk about an unmitigated success, unmitigated praise, unmitigated joy or excitement, an unmitigated desire to reach your goals, and so on. But more often, this word has a negative tone: talk about unmitigated disasters and defeats, unmitigated grief or depression, unmitigated anger or boredom or distress, unmitigated hatred or evil or savagery, unmitigated racism or discrimination, etc. You can also talk about a problem or issue going unmitigated or continuing unmitigated. And you can say that some problem is unmitigated by something else: "The pain persisted, unmitigated by the medicine." Our daughter's birth brought us unmitigated joy.  His entire campaign has been one shameful display of unmitigated bluster. Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "unmitigated" means when you can explain it without saying "not softened" or "unrelieved." Think of a time you tried to fix a problem in a way that didn't help at all, and fill in the blanks: "The problem of _____ continued, unmitigated by my efforts to _____." Example: "The problem of sleeping in too late continued, unmitigated by my efforts to set increasingly harshly-worded labels for my wake-up alarms on the phone." Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game and quote below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Playing With Words: This month, we're playing with song lyrics that include words featured in issues of Make Your Point. I’ll give you a few lines from the song, with a blank where our word appears, along with its definition. See if you can come up with it! You can follow the link to see the right answer right away, or just wait until the following day’s issue. Have fun! Yesterday's lyrics: Artist: Fiona Apple Title: Left Alone Lyrics:    And now I'm hard, too hard to know    I don't cry when I'm sad anymore, no no    Tears _____ in my tummy    Fears coincide with the tow Definition: to become hard and rigid, like a bone Answer: calcify Try this one today: Artist: Ray Stevens Title: Shriners' Convention Lyrics:    "Operator, give me room 321, please.    Hello, Noble Lumpkin?    This here’s the _____ Potentate. …    I said it's the ______ Potentate.    The ____-- Coy!    Dad blame it! This here's Bubba!” Definition: glorious, or very famous and respected (use this one word for each of the three blanks) Peek at the answer... A Point Well Made: James D. Nicoll: "We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." 1. One opposite of UNMITIGATED is A. DEFINED FULLY B. TONED DOWN C. BARELY ACCEPTABLE 2. Their desire to learn French was unmitigated by _____. A. a long-awaited trip to Paris B. several cognates that were particularly easy to memorize C. the spelling errors they made in the same terms again and again Answers are below. To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each day for free by Mrs. Liesl Johnson, M.Ed., a word lover, learning enthusiast, and private tutor of reading and writing in the verdant little town of Hilo, Hawaii. For writing tips, online learning, essay guidance, and more, please visit www.HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C Exploring the archives: At the heart of today's word "unmitigated" is "mitigate," meaning "to make softer, to make less harsh." Could you recall a synonym for "mitigate" that starts with "p"? It means "to make something less intense, or to make something seem less serious."