ATTENUATE means to lessen the intensity, amount, or impact of something. For example, vaccines ATTENUATE the impact of a virus and earplugs ATTENUATE the sound of loud noises.
ATTENUATE has become a very popular SAT word. BUT - and this is a very important BUT - ATTENUATE has repeatedly been a WRONG answer. For example, the September 12, 2026, SAT contained a difficult question about the clustering of textile manufacturing firms in Manchester, UK. This was PARADIGMATIC or a typical example of industrial agglomeration. It was NOT an example of ATTENUATION!
It is important to emphasize that I am not saying that ATTENUATE can never be a correct answer. But, I am warning my students and Substack subscribers that ATTENUATE has thus far not been a confirmed answer on a vocabulary in context question.
ATTENUATE – to lessen the intensity, amount, or impact of something