militate

mili·tate (mil′ə tāt′)

intransitive verb -·tat′ed, -·tat′·ing

Archaic to serve as a soldier; fight (against)
to be directed (against); operate or work (against or, rarely, for): said of facts, evidence, actions, etc. his youth militated against him

Etymology: < L militatus, pp. of militare: see militant

Preposition: against

development: An atmosphere existed, therefore, which militated against the development of citizens ' rights.
success: N. or S. In every other spot the fire must necessarily be oblique, which would seriously militate against the success of the experiment.
approach: Clearly there are factors militating against a progressive approach to NGO messaging.
innovation: However, the contrasting nature of Bexley's schools has for a number of reasons militated against real curriculum innovation and delivery.
creation: Again, the researches of M. Cuvier present us with no fact militating against the recent creation of the human species.
action: An underlying belief has militated against tough action on this.

Modifying Another Word

strongly: By contrast, the use of AV in constituencies militates strongly against this.
also: Pressure from America and Europe will also militate in favor of a settlement.
not: This need not militate against students learning from the past.
all: We all know that the age of students and the constraints of their timetables all militate against their using local services.
sometimes: The relatively low status of rights of way work within an authority sometimes militates against due consideration of rights of way matters.
actually: One of the huge ironies of the web is that the economic incentives actually militate in favor of the monkeys.

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