shrug off

verb

shrugged off; shrugging off; shrugs off

transitive verb

1

: to shake off

shrugging off sleep

2

: to brush aside : minimize

shrugs off the problem

3

: to remove (a garment) by wriggling out

Synonyms

• blink (at)
• brush (aside or off)
• condone
• discount
• disregard
• excuse
• forgive
• gloss (over)
• gloze (over)
• ignore
• overlook
• overpass
• paper over
• pardon
• pass over
• remit
• whitewash
• wink (at)

Examples of shrug off in a Sentence

an administration that was willing to shrug off the problem

she shrugged off her coat and hung it up neatly

Recent Examples on the Web

But Johnson shrugged off his doubters in both Chicago and the nation’s capital during a rousing send-off rally at a West Side church on Saturday. —Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2025

Trump and members of his administration have often shrugged off concerns about the additional cost tariffs present for US businesses, claiming foreign countries are the ones who pay for it. —Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 5 Mar. 2025

Kelly Evans, Co-Host of CNBC’s Power Lunch Torrey Kleinman | CNBC Just yesterday morning, the market was largely shrugging off the latest tariff round that was expected from President Trump. —Kelly Evans, CNBC, 4 Mar. 2025

Bill Burr recently spoke to The New York Times and shrugged off Ben Shapiro‘s criticism of him. —Zack Sharf, Variety, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shrug off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

shrug off

verb

1

: to brush aside as not important

2

: to take off (a garment) by wriggling out