militate
verb
Mitigate vs. Militate: Usage Guide
Mitigate is sometimes used as an intransitive (followed by against) where militate might be expected. Even though Faulkner used it
William Faulkner
and one critic thinks it should be called an American idiom, it is usually considered a mistake.
Examples of militate in a Sentence
Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 28 Feb. 2023
The grown-up will vainly make the case for a three-course meal at that highly rated trailside bistro, while the kid, content to run on Gatorade and Clif bars, will militate for pit stops at playgrounds and amphibian-friendly bogs.
—Taras Grescoe, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2021
In addition to these legal factors, a practical consideration also militate against appointing a special counsel: time.
—Barbara McQuade, Time, 17 Nov. 2022
There should be no zoning laws imposed, as has been done in other states, that, in a transparent attempt dictatorially to change the character of our suburbs, militate against single-family housing in favor of multifamily dwellings.
—Matt Canham, The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 Oct. 2021
Melanin levels varied, but most of the citizens had applied thick white lotion to their bodies to militate against UV damage from the failing yet persistent sunshine of the late British summer of a very bad year.
—Hermione Hoby, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
That would militate in favor of the president’s naming a strong judicial conservative and McConnell’s trying to move it across the goal line.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 19 Sep. 2020
While mitigate has an undercurrent of facilitation, militate is more of a suppressive, authoritarian thing.
—Arunabh Saikia, Quartz India, 23 Mar. 2020
New infectious diseases come out of the blue, each with its own idiosyncrasies that militate against detailed advance planning.
—Robert Dingwall, Wired, 29 Jan. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'militate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near militate
Cite this Entry
“Militate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militate. Accessed 3 Jun. 2024.
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militate
verb
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