BRUSHING (OFF) Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

brushing (off)

verb

present participle of brush (off)

as in winking (at)

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for brushing (off)

Verb

Trump, now shrugging off concerns about the threat posed to those who remained aboard the plane he was supposed to be on.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
Publicly, the White House is shrugging off the legal setbacks.

— Toluse Olorunnipa, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026

Definition of shrugging off

Verb

In the filing, the Justice Department urged the appeals court to reverse the Tennessee federal judge’s ruling dismissing criminal charges against Abrego Garcia.

— Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
The book resuscitates the childhood feeling that most of us spend our lives tamping down and dismissing, if not completely extinguishing.

— Chris Ware, The New York Review of Books, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of dismissing

Verb

The issue has split circuit courts, with the 9th Circuit (which Idaho is part of) and six other circuit courts rejecting the administration’s position.

— Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 20 Aug. 2026
These critiques assume that people rejecting vaccines have access to good information about them, but that’s not always the case, Marnik said.

— Felice J. Freyer, STAT, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of rejecting

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“Brushing (off).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brushing%20%28off%29. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of brushing (off)

verb

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