shrug off

verb

shrugged off; shrugging off; shrugs off

transitive verb

1

: to shake off

shrugging off sleep

2

: to brush aside : minimize

shrugs off the problem

3

: to remove (a garment) by wriggling out

Synonyms of shrug off

• ignore
• forgive
• overlook
• explain
• pass over
• justify

Examples of shrug off in a Sentence

an administration that was willing to shrug off the problem

she shrugged off her coat and hung it up neatly

Recent Examples on the Web

Clinicians and patients are much less likely to tolerate robot mistakes that might be shrugged off for consumer robotics, Bhushan said. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 7 July 2026

Publicly, the White House is shrugging off the legal setbacks. — Toluse Olorunnipa, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026

Paul said, referring to an interview Edwards did several years ago shrugging off the Phoenix Suns’ addition of Kevin Durant. — Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 4 July 2026

Teskey also shrugged off concerns about an AI data center bubble. — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 2 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shrug off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

shrug off

verb

1

: to brush aside as not important

2

: to take off (a garment) by wriggling out