sweep aside

phrasal verb

swept aside; sweeping aside; sweeps aside
: to treat (something) as not important : to ignore (something)
He swept aside questions about his son's arrest.
He swept aside their objections, refusing to change his plans.

Examples of sweep aside in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Revolution is typically portrayed as the final act that the struggle has been building toward, as the old ways are swept aside in favor of a new and presumably glorious future. Catherine Bray, Variety, 6 Sep. 2023 The juntas that have swept aside the previous regimes have weaponized resentment of Paris’s deep and complicated imperial legacy, much to the opportunistic glee of Russia, which has offered both rhetorical and, in some instances, substantive support to the coup-plotting regimes. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023 But the drastic transformation of Russia’s portrayal of Ukraine and the rest of the world illustrates Putin’s fierce determination to sweep aside the dark pages of Russia’s past and, quite literally, write himself into history as a victorious conqueror. Mary Ilyushina, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2023 Washington backed the uncompromising secular reformer Benito Juárez, who swept aside Maximilian’s forces and ordered the archduke’s execution by firing squad. Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022 President Biden began sweeping aside his predecessor’s restrictive immigration policies on his first day in office. Toluse Olorunnipa, Washington Post, 10 May 2023 The project needs to be ambitious enough to sweep aside in its entirely the exercise-in-obscuity that is Circular A-4. Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Forbes, 3 May 2023 See More

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

Dictionary Entries Near sweep aside

Cite this Entry

“Sweep aside.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweep%20aside. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!