as in wave
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Recent Examples of shrug
Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
The public was bankrolling much of it via a Board of Supervisors decree to move taxpayer funds to the museum but reacted to the design with a shrug at best—plenty thought the undulated single-floor space looked like an amoeba oozing over Wilshire.
—Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Melvin’s childhood friends and business associates look away, scratch their heads, and shrug their shoulders when asked the obvious question.
—Aliya S. King, VIBE.com, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrug
Noun
With a kind of funny shrug, Bona walks on stage with his bass guitar strapped across his body.
—Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
The public was bankrolling much of it via a Board of Supervisors decree to move taxpayer funds to the museum but reacted to the design with a shrug at best—plenty thought the undulated single-floor space looked like an amoeba oozing over Wilshire.
—Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026
Verb
In the years since 2004’s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn’s carved out a niche embodying big-talking, attention-grabbing rascals who say inappropriate things, then shrug their way through the consequences.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
Melvin’s childhood friends and business associates look away, scratch their heads, and shrug their shoulders when asked the obvious question.
—Aliya S. King, VIBE.com, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shrug
Noun
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When the jet is streaming rapidly, planetary waves ripple along quickly in the atmosphere, bringing fronts with more frequent changes in the weather, Rutz said.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
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On the Island of the Gods, fresh ideas arrive like waves, creating a glorious cocktail of cultures and influences.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the intervening nine years since 2003, Mars' Happy Valley community has flourished and grown into a burgeoning colony with thousands of residents trying to establish a cultural identity on the Red Planet without Earth's overbearing presence.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
27 Mar. 2026
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Up North leaders say they're torn between wanting the best future for their students and acknowledging that some who could flourish in college prefer to remain among the forests, rivers and lakes of the region, even if jobs pay less and everything from dentists to Walmart are farther away.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Its founding principles—informed by an environmentally-conscious ethos and values which ‘protect the islands, support local communities, and do business in a…fair and future-focused way,’ says Dixon—mirrored those at Nikoi, and still hold strong today.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
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These experiences eventually informed the vision behind The Tagline Group.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As Foster sat down, his coach nodded in his direction.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2026
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Swift smiled and nodded from her seat.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One of them told Felder that the precinct had received a complaint about a trespasser at the synagogue.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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Minnesota victim wants accountability After she was injured, Stotko told the city council in her community of Hastings, Minnesota, about her crash to push for a stricter ordinance.—
Sarah Raza,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term directing federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of babies born in the United States if neither parent is a citizen or lawful permanent resident.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
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This year, Florida has already executed four people and has three other cases with death warrants signed.—
Romy Ellenbogen,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Despite the two sharing the same last name, deputies did not note if the two missing women are related.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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Then, as the pandemic waned, in 2023 and early ’24, came two jolts to the system – federal pandemic-era assistance ended, pulling food and food-related funding away from charities, and the number of people seeking food continued to grow.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shrug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shrug. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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