verb · neutral
minimize
/ˈmɪnɪmaɪz/MIN·i·mize
to reduce something to the least possible amount or degree
Examples
“Policies aim to minimize the environmental impact of development.”
“Proper training minimizes the risk of workplace accidents.”
“Students should try to minimize vague language in Task 2 essays.”
Band 8 sentence
“To protect biodiversity, planners must minimize habitat fragmentation when designing infrastructure.”
Collocations
- minimize risk
- minimize damage from
- minimize costs
Word family
Common mistakes
They try to minimize of accidents.→They try to minimize accidents.
Measures minimize the risk yesterday.→Measures minimized the risk yesterday.
Say it for a higher band
5reduce→6cut→7+minimize
Synonyms
reduce
mitigate
Easily confused
reduce
“We reduced plastic use by 20% this year.”
mitigate
“Policies were introduced to mitigate the economic impact of the crisis.”
Related words
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In -ize
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