Synonyms

brush aside

British

verb

(tr, adverb) to dismiss without consideration; disregard

"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

brush aside Idioms

Disregard, ignore, as in The teacher brushed aside our questions.

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.

US President Donald Trump said Monday he was not concerned about China's live-fire military drills around Taiwan, appearing to brush aside the possibility of counterpart Xi Jinping ordering an invasion.

From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025

Take away that clear line of accountability, and early warnings are easy to ignore or brush aside deliberately.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Van Gerwen, who has been world champion three times, has been below his best in 2024 but showed glimpses of brilliance to brush aside Littler.

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2024

Rivera, who likes to differentiate between what he considers important for his team compared to what’s interesting, said he doesn’t want to brush aside some of what has transpired in the organization in previous years.

From Washington Times • Sep. 9, 2022

I brush aside more dirt, but no other symbols or words appear.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

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