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

The oil market has long shrugged off the risk of an oil supply disruption in the Middle East. —Dan Mangan,leslie Josephs,spencer Kimball,cj Haddad,justin Papp,jordan Novet, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2026

Violence tied to the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel is not something to shrug off. —Andy Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026

The brothers shrugged off the fact that one received the accolades while the other did not. —Chris Hays, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026

The Gophers men’s basketball team shrugged off another bad-luck injury to add the latest chapter to its feel-good story on Saturday. —Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 21 Feb. 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