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

• 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

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, WBD is shrugging off the downturn, up a hair to near $18, continuing to be buoyed by takeover talk. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025

If the Yankees cannot shrug off the 2-0 series deficit, then Boone could be in hot water, especially with the pair of embarrassing losses to the Blue Jays. —Hunter Mulholland, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025

The rich pump money into the economy, allowing the stock market to shrug off any signs of underlying weakness. —Sarah Min, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2025

The uptick extended a period of resilient performance for markets, which shrugged off the looming impasse a day earlier. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2025

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