shrug
Americanverb (used with object)
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shrugs,
present (3rd person singular)
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shrugged,
past participle, past
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shrugging
present participle
verb (used without object)
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shrugs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shrugged,
past participle, past
-
shrugging
present participle
noun
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shrugs
plural
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the movement of raising and contracting the shoulders.
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a short sweater or jacket that ends above or at the waistline.
verb phrase
verb
noun
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the gesture so made
-
a woman's short jacket or close-fitting cardigan
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shrugsimple
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shrugssimple
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have shruggedperfect
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has shruggedperfect
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am shruggingprogressive
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are shruggingprogressive
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is shruggingprogressive
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have been shruggingperfect progressive
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has been shruggingperfect progressive
Past
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shruggedsimple
-
had shruggedperfect
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was shruggingprogressive
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were shruggingprogressive
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had been shruggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shrug
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English schruggen to shudder, shrug < ?; (noun) late Middle English shrugge a tug, pull, derivative of the v.
Explanation
To shrug is to raise your shoulders slightly, often to show that you're unsure or indifferent, like when you don't know the answer to a question. A shrug is a gesture that can convey a lot without words. You might shrug if you're uncertain about the plans a friend is suggesting. You may also find yourself shrugging in response to a question that you don't know the answer to or one that you don't care enough about to answer. A shrug can suggest indifference to a person or situation that you might normally find stressful, showing that you have simply decided it's not worth getting worked up over.
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.
See Examples For:
When it comes to procrastinators and the lazy, he gives a shrug: “You can find the time to write or not. That’s up to you.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026
"It's one of those fairly typical things that happens to men and you shrug it off and think, well, it'll get better," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Revisiting the movie through this lens offers plenty of important wisdom that its detractors were quick to shrug off.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Asked how exactly the group came together, Godrich and Harrison look at each other across a picnic table and shrug.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
I can’t control myself if I speak, so I shrug.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
On set, she shrugs off the restrictive moral code of her pop career.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
It’s unclear what the two men say to each other but Hanks appears to bring up an issue to André who seemingly shrugs it off at first.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"Homer is 2,800 years old, while the Turkish-Greek border is only a century old," he shrugs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
She shrugs off Maddie getting faint at dance class because she threw up her lunch.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Kimberly shrugs, clearly embarrassed to accept my condolences.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
He shrugged off the prospect of more fighting.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The bond market just shrugged off the kind of news that should have sent yields higher.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some people started to do it and raise capital, and we shrugged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
He shrugged off question marks over his place in the team ahead of the World Cup to quickly become a rival to Kane as England's most influential player.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
I had asked Maggie and Francey about it, but they had shrugged their shoulders, smiling.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
That shrugging off of the war was a common attitude among visitors to Boulevard City, organizers say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Gold futures settled higher with support from a pullback in oil prices, while shrugging off U.S. dollar gains and an uptick in 2-year yields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
I remember writing about him being on “Saturday Night Live” and people shrugging it off, like, “Oh, it’s not that big of a deal.”
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Micron stock was shrugging off CXMT's claimed advance in smartphone memory but investors might want to spread their bets.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
“Mom—my mom—she believes that butterflies are like little spirits. Who knows? Maybe even my sister’s,” I said, shrugging because I’d never been sure about that.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
