never mind

idiomatic phrase

1

—used to tell someone not to be concerned about or give attention to something or someone

Never mind your mistake: it wasn't serious.

So you made a little mistake! Never mind (about that): it wasn't serious.

'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' said I. 'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. 'I should be able to look after that for you.'

—Arthur Conan Doyle

He would tell Blossom that she might go back to her aunt and never mind about him—he would do very well by himself and he did not blame her in the least.

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

2

—used to say that something previously mentioned or asked can be disregarded

Do you know where my keys are? Oh, never mind. Here they are.

3

—used to refer to something that is even less likely or possible than something else being mentioned or described

I can barely understand it, never mind explain it.

With this knee I can hardly walk, never mind run.

Never mind mastering a second language or a subject syllabus, most us have enough difficulty remembering the orders for a round of drinks at the pub.

—David Robson

Synonyms

• let alone
• much less
• still less

Examples of never mind in a Sentence

I have a hard enough time getting out of bed before sunrise, never mind getting to work so early.

Recent Examples on the Web

Back then, many voters watching the nightly news got the impression that the party could not control its own delegates, never mind a country that was wrestling with an unpopular war. —Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2024

Non-manufacturing countries with poor infrastructure for collecting, sorting, and recycling textiles will face stiff challenges in neutralizing the cost of mounting clothing and textile waste, never mind developing a valuable economy from it. —Brooke Roberts-Islam, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

Look for a line that sometimes compares to the one outside Georgetown Cupcake and that demonstrates the enduring appeal of burgers and French cooking, never mind that burgers and French cooking are in abundant supply nearby and elsewhere in the city. —Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024

Workers might not be on the same continent, never mind in the same office. —Ed Beltran, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024

Purple Sky Metallic is an absolutely lurid hue that will turn heads from across the county, never mind the parking lot. —Tim Stevens, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024

After swiping right on a dating app (in 2007, five years before Tinder was invented, but never mind), the future soulmates meet at a bar. —Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Mar. 2024

There are probably more than a few Forbes readers that can’t get those kinds of speeds on their home broadband internet service, never mind a cellular wireless network. —Dave Altavilla, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024

None of the philosophical musings are ever made coherent, never mind resolved. —Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 8 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1