shrug off
Britishverb
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to minimize the importance of; dismiss
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to get rid of
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to wriggle out of or push off (clothing)
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Minimize the importance of, as in That nasty review didn't bother him at all; he just shrugged it off . [Early 1900s]
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Get rid of, as in She managed to shrug off her drowsiness and keep driving . [Mid-1900s]
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Wriggle out of a garment, as in He shrugged off his coat . [First half of 1900s]
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.
Revisiting the movie through this lens offers plenty of important wisdom that its detractors were quick to shrug off.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
I would be willing to bet good money that Meta would be able to shrug off any damages, even if they weren’t thrown out on appeal.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
And that allowed another hero to shrug off the pain of his own wounds and step up big.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Stocks looked poised for a rebound today, as investors shrug off mounting U.S.-Iran tensions and Oracle earnings that highlighted the huge cost of the AI boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
He was quiet for a moment, then shrugged off his mood with ease, the way one might shrug off a coat upon coming indoors.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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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.
