Both Uses of
mitigate
in
Moby Dick
- He never used to swear, though, at his men, they said; but somehow he got an inordinate quantity of cruel, unmitigated hard work out of them.†
Chpt 16-18unmitigated = complete (not diminished) -- usually used to say that something that is harmful or unpleasant is not in any way made less badstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unmitigated means not and reverses the meaning of mitigated. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- He was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge.
Chpt 40-42 *immitigable = impossible to make less harmful or extremestandard prefix: The prefix "im-" in immitigable means not and reverses the meaning of mitigable. This prefix is sometimes used before words beginning with "M" or "P" as seen in words like immoral, immature, and impossible.
Definition:
make less harmful or unpleasant