BRUSHING (OFF) Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

brushing (off)

verb

present participle of brush (off)

as in winking (at)

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for brushing (off)

Verb

But on Tuesday, senators failed to advance the firms’ top legislative priority, shrugging off the threat of tens of millions of dollars that still could hit them this fall.

— Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Part of it is that more women are speaking up about hair loss, shrugging off the stigma and reaching out for help.

— Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of shrugging off

Verb

Department of Defense Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael addressed Luckey's involvement with the Pentagon in comments to CNBC on Tuesday, dismissing any concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

— Samantha Subin, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
Vance’s comments last week came in response to Cruz openly discussing a potential 2028 run and dismissing a question about whether the vice president had already locked down the party’s nomination with two years to go.

— Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of dismissing

Verb

This may involve rejecting a command, removing write access, isolating the AI, transferring control back to the operator or moving equipment into a safe state.

— Gregory Shahnovsky, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
The sense was that the people who were rejecting the Keynesian model were throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

— Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of rejecting

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“Brushing (off).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brushing%20%28off%29. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of brushing (off)

verb

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