1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

brushing (off)

verb

present participle of brush (off)
as in winking (at)

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for brushing (off)
  1. shrugging off
  2. dismissing
  3. rejecting
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
  • Without billions in funding and a stadium site, the rest is flowery prose, but there is no sense in dismissing any potential bidder a year or two before the bidding opens.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
  • While speaking with Entertainment Weekly in September 2026, Mirren praised working with Brosnan and Hardy, dismissing rumors of tension on set with the latter.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of dismissing
Verb
  • The trend is less about rejecting smartphones and more about choosing which parts of them to keep.
    — Ashley Lynch, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The trend is less about rejecting technology than deciding how much attention a phone deserves.
    — Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

brushing (aside or off)
brushing (off)
brush (off)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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

Copy Citation
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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fungible

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All