Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make a disease or its symptoms less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause: To provide temporary relief from suffering, especially in a medical context.
   • To make an offense or fault seem less serious or severe by providing excuses or justifications: To try to lessen the perceived gravity of a wrong or crime.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • Doctors aim to palliate the patient's pain while treating the underlying illness.
  • He tried to palliate his mistake by blaming the confusing instructions.

Advanced Usage

• "to palliate suffering": to alleviate or ease suffering, particularly in palliative care.
  • The hospice's primary goal is to palliate suffering and provide comfort.
• "to palliate a crime": to attempt to excuse or mitigate the seriousness of a criminal act.
  • The defense attorney sought to palliate the crime by highlighting the defendant's difficult upbringing.

Variants and Related Words

• Palliative (adj/n): (Adjective) Relieving pain or alleviating a problem without dealing with the cause. (Noun) A drug or medical treatment that relieves symptoms.
  • The treatment was only palliative, not curative.
  • Morphine is a powerful palliative for severe pain.
• Palliation (n): The act of palliating; alleviation.
  • The palliation of symptoms is a key aspect of hospice care.

Synonyms

• Alleviate: To make suffering, deficiency, or a problem less severe.
• Mitigate: To make something less severe, serious, or painful.
• Extenuate: To make a fault or offense seem less serious by providing partial excuses (often used in legal contexts, similar to the second meaning of "palliate").

Related Phrases

• Palliative care: Specialized medical care focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness.
  • She decided to enter a palliative care program to improve her quality of life.

Verb

1. provide physical relief, as from pain
   • This pill will relieve your headaches
2. lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
   • The circumstances extenuate the crime