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Synonyms

laugh off

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to treat or dismiss lightly, esp with stoicism

    he laughed off his injuries
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
laugh off Idioms  

  1. Also, laugh away. Dismiss as ridiculous or trivial, as in He laughed off the suggestion that his career was over. [Early 1700s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That kind of chat from an underdog is usually laughed off in Scotland.

From BBC

French driver Isack Hadjar remained coy on Thursday when he sought to laugh off rumours he is set to join Red Bull next year, instead confirming he knows he will be remaining in Formula One.

From Barron's

Speaking to a summit in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin laughed off suggestions he ordered drones to Denmark.

From BBC

Inflammatory rhetoric, and even the incitement and praise of violence, is simply laughed off under the auspices of humor and pushed aside by a brief or private apology.

From Salon

Akimoto laughed off the suggestion, but expressed frustration about technology's ability to mine data and find the "maximum common denominator".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.