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

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 In 1997, Fred Couples shrugged off the despair of finding the water with his tee shot by slam-dunking his subsequent effort into the cup for surely the most bizarre par of his career. Jack Bantock, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024 European customers in the fourth quarter largely shrugged off Mondelez’s higher prices. David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 Eat more cookies Cookie Monster seemed to shrug off all the negative comments and shared his current solution to dealing with inflation. Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2024 Its frontal armor can easily shrug off a hit from the type of RPG warhead carried by a Ghoul. David Hambling, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 McConnell repeatedly shrugged off the questions, and made no mention of his health during remarks on Wednesday. Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024 Here's who's going Biden administration sends Arizona Indigenous nonprofit $8M to bring power to 300 tribal homes Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb's campaign shrugged off Barrasso’s endorsement. Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 29 Feb. 2024 For brands that want people to trust them, shrugging off those social changes is foolhardy. Bynick Rockel, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2024 What is surprising—given the amount of time that Colossal CEO Ben Lamm spends patiently shrugging off comparisons to Jurassic Park—is his latest hire. Matt Reynolds, WIRED, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shrug off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shrug off was in 1902

Dictionary Entries Near shrug off

Cite this Entry

“Shrug off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shrug%20off. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

shrug off

verb
1
: to brush aside as not important
2
: to take off (a garment) by wriggling out
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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