to militate
2
8.4
- verb
- /ˈmɪlɪˌteɪt/
- Formal
- It militates against precisely the kind of individual initiative and innovation that is at the heart of economic growth.
- factors that militate
- political difficulties militate
- militates against the interest
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Watch on YouTubeYou're getting in all kinds of processes that are, that will militate against successful art.
- You're getting in all kinds of processes that are, that will militate against successful art.
- Aristotle thinks that there's something about human nature itself that militates against this.
- And it it militated against progression because it forced me into a pattern of consistency.
- So the contingencies in evolution may militate against the emergence of intelligence even if life gets started in lots of places.
Examples
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The extensive interpenetration of companies and financial markets throughout the three regions militates against a breakdown of cooperation.
Academic text (1990) -
The lack of funding could militate against the project's success.
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So this would also seem to militate against cost benefit analysis.
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However, a range of factors militate against its potential success.
Academic text (2006) -
Silence can only serve to militate against you.
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There are actions that might be taken to militate against this phenomenon and move us in the other direction.
Academic text (2004) -
The orbit of concern of this study, therefore, is on the factors that militate against primary school attendance in Nigeria.
Academic text (2006) -
More often, the struggle to meet multiple expectations may militate against active problem-solving.
Academic text (1994) -
Consequently, both tradition and reality militate against support for adolescents' staying in school.
Academic text (2003) -
But both normative and structural forces militate against that outcome.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
231
4.0
To try to persuade public officials to support a policy or decision
34
6.0
To try to stop someone from doing something by talking to them
10
5.6
To try to make political or social change
3
6.0
To use influence to persuade someone to do something
1
8.9
Begin to strongly defend a person or cause in public
Defend your ideas or what you want when others disagree
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
militate = military (opaque) = milit + ate
The modern meaning 'to be a factor' is not transparently derived from the root meaning related to soldiers; learners cannot reliably infer the sense from the base form.
Etymology
The word militate comes from the Latin root milit- meaning 'soldier', the same root you see in military. So, when something 'militates' for or against a choice, it acts like a soldier that 'fights' to help or to stop that result, which is why the word means a strong influence in favor of or against something.