winking (at)

verb

present participle of wink (at)
as in ignoring
to dismiss as of little importance for too long the school just winked at the young athletes' hooliganism, dismissing it as a case of "boys being boys"

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for winking (at)
  1. ignoring
  2. forgiving
  3. overlooking
  4. passing over
  5. explaining
  6. shrugging off
  7. papering over
Verb
  • Instead of ignoring the noise and letting the backlash blow over, Espinal showed up to the set and posted a video explaining to New Yorkers why, in the long term, productions like this are a boon to the city and its inhabitants.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Also, one of the biggest risks in using generic off-the-shelf AI for abstracting real estate documents is that the AI model can produce and fill in a plausible value, ignoring what the source supports.
    — Pranit Banthia, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of ignoring
Verb
  • The scourge of Steve Spurrier Spurrier took too many verbal jabs to list here and took special glee in beating the Dawgs, never forgiving them for beating his Florida Gators in his 1966 senior season, ruining their SEC championship hopes.
    — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Although these conditions may be difficult to maintain at home, onions are forgiving.
    — Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of forgiving
Verb
  • The clubhouse would have a bar, restaurant, locker rooms and verandas overlooking the golf course and tennis courts.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Domaine Drouhin Oregon 2023 Arthur Chardonnay Dundee Hills Domaine Drouhin Oregon covers 235 acres in the Dundee Hills overlooking the Willamette Valley.
    — Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of overlooking
Verb
  • The probability of a hurricane passing over any particular point is low, especially farther from the Mexican coast, since most Pacific hurricanes tend to stay closer to Mexico.
    — Nicholas Grondin, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Related Articles The board previously resolved to erect new buildings for the Latino Museum and the American Women’s History Museum, passing over Arts and Industries.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of passing over
Verb
  • Wickline came on as an increasingly flustered Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, who’s explaining why AI is dangerous without taking any responsibility for that.
    — Rima Parikh, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2026
  • But the stakes on Saturday had arguably never been higher for USC’s coach, who spent all offseason explaining how this season would be different.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of explaining
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
  • But many residents worry that the festive mood and infrastructure works risk papering over the security crisis that still affects their daily lives.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
  • The improvement between Gemini 2 and Gemini 3 may be papering over a more serious flaw.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of papering over
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

winking
winking (at)
winking (out)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Winking (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winking%20%28at%29. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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