mitigate

/ˈmi-tə-ˌgāt/

Middle English, from Latin mitigatus, past participle of mitigare to soften, from mitis soft + -igare (akin to Latin agere to drive); akin to Old Irish moíth soft

verb

  1. to cause to become less harsh or hostile : mollify

  2. to make less severe or painful : alleviate

  3. extenuate

aggressiveness may be mitigated or … channeled

relieve alleviate lighten assuage mitigate allay mean to make something less grievous. relieve implies a lifting of enough of a burden to make it tolerable. alleviate implies temporary or partial lessening of pain or distress.