aliviar
verbCEFR B2
What does “aliviar” mean in English?
1.to alleviate, to relieve
to alleviate, to relieve (to reduce or ease a burden, pressure, or difficulty)
2.to relieve, to alleviate
to relieve, to alleviate (aliviar + noun — reduce pain, pressure, or burden to a manageable level)
3.to relieve, to ease
to relieve, to ease (to lessen pain, tension, or burden; aliviar el dolor / la tensión)
Example sentences
Las medidas de conciliación laboral están diseñadas para aliviar la carga que recae sobre las familias con hijos a cargo.
Work-life balance measures are designed to relieve the burden that falls on families with dependent children.
Supo que había aprobado el examen y sintió un alivio enorme que le quitó meses de tensión de encima.
She found out she had passed the exam and felt an enormous relief that lifted months of tension from her.
How to use it
Aliviar means 'to relieve' or 'to ease' — to reduce the weight or pressure of a burden without necessarily resolving the underlying cause. It occupies the most human and immediate register within the mitigar / paliar / aliviar cluster. Aliviar targets people's burdens and suffering directly: aliviar la carga, aliviar el estrés, aliviar la presión. It can also describe emotional relief: 'sentirse aliviado' (to feel relieved). Paliar is more clinical (palliative care origin), mitigar is more technical and systemic (policy, environment). Choosing the wrong verb from this cluster is a high-frequency B2 register error.
Common mistake
Aliviar (relieve a human burden or ease immediate suffering) vs paliar (palliate, ease clinical or chronic suffering — more formal and institutional) vs mitigar (mitigate systemic impacts — technical, policy-facing). 'Aliviar el cambio climático' sounds odd — use mitigar for systemic environmental problems.