Palliate

printer friendly format

(pronounced pal-ee-ayt)  verb

Definition

1. to relieve or lessen the severity (of a disease) without actually curing or eliminating the underlying cause; ease or alleviate pain or other symptoms. 2. to subdue or moderate the intensity of; calm or pacify. 3. to mask or conceal the gravity of an infraction or transgression; make (an offense etc.) appear less serious through excuses and apologies; extenuate.

Other Forms

Palliative (pronounced pal-ee-ay-tiv or pal-yuh-tiv) adjective

Main Example

• Several measures in the just passed "Inflation Reduction Act" will lower the cost of healthcare. Among them: larger subsidies for health insurance premiums; capping the out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs for seniors and penalizing drug companies whose price increases exceed inflation; the federal government now having the power to negotiate down the price of some of the costliest drugs covered under Medicare. No question, this new law will help palliate the recent increase in cost of living.

Workplace Examples

• Between you and me, the Toronto district office is the only one that consistently fails to deliver the monthly sales numbers by the deadline. I am just fed up with their excuses and palliating explanations.

• This time when I visited my 91-year-old dad, who lives by himself in a faraway town, I asked several neighbors if they could make it a point to drop in on him once a week or so, even if for only 10 to 15 minutes at a time, to palliate his loneliness and boredom.

Other Examples

• somebody telling her fellow employees: "The way Jessica was smiling and joking during break this morning, one might get the impression that her cancer is gone. Not by any means! She looked good only because of the short-term, palliative actions taken by her doctors. Believe me, Jessica's prognosis is not encouraging."
• trying to rouse the spirits of his pessimistic employees, a manager saying: "Yes, we face an uphill road and I do not want to palliate the difficulties, but there is good reason for some optimism, and let me tell you why."
• a domestic cleaning woman turning the radio volume up to help palliate the tedium of cleaning
• during a court trial, the defense attorney making the case for a lighter sentence for his convicted client by furnishing a list of palliating circumstances

• some who voiced full-throated support for the invasion of Iraq now trying to palliate the extremely costly misadventure by saying: "Oh, but we got rid of Saddam!"

© 2022 V.J. Singal
No part of this may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.

This Month's Other Words

To help you sharply enhance your vocabulary

The Articulate Professional -- 3rd Edition
Click here for features and sample pages, or place an order.

Copyright © 1999 - 2022 by V.J. Singal. Articulate is a registered trademark.
Questions or comments may be sent directly to the author.