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Meaning & use

brush it off

phrase·Everydayinformal

Last updated

UK/ˌbrʌʃ ɪt ˈɒf/
US/ˌbrʌʃ ɪt ˈɔːf/

Meanings

  1. phrasephrasal verbinformal

    To treat something such as an insult, failure or problem as unimportant and not let it bother you.

    Grammar: A pronoun goes in the middle: brush it off.

    Patterns

    • brush something off
    • brush it off

    He tried to brush it off, but the comment still hurt.

    She brushed it off with a laugh and moved on.

    You should brush it off and try again next week.

  2. phrasephrasal verb

    To remove dust, dirt or crumbs from something by wiping with your hand or a brush.

    Grammar: A literal use: brush the dirt off, or brush it off.

    Patterns

    • brush something off something
    • brush it off

    She brushed it off her sleeve before anyone saw.

    He fell, stood up and brushed it off his knees.

    Brush it off carefully so the paint does not smear.

Word forms

third person singularbrushes it off
past tensebrushed it off
past participlebrushed it off
-ing formbrushing it off

Common combinations

try to brush it off
He tried to brush it off after the argument.
just brush it off
Just brush it off and keep going.
brush it off with a laugh
She brushed it off with a laugh.
hard to brush it off
It was hard to brush it off after losing.
brush it off as nothing
He brushed it off as nothing.

Synonyms and how they differ

shrug off
Shrug off is very close, but suggests a casual physical dismissal and is often used for illness or criticism.
laugh off
Laugh off means treating something as a joke, while brush off may be silent.
ignore
Ignore means not paying attention at all, while brush it off often means you noticed but chose not to be upset.
dismiss
Dismiss is more formal and means rejecting something as not worth attention.

Opposites

dwell ontake to heart

Word family

brush verb
to clean or touch lightly with a brush
brush-off noun
a rude refusal or dismissal
brush aside phrasal verb
to dismiss or ignore
brush up phrasal verb
to improve a skill you have not used for a while

Commonly confused: brush it off or brush up?

brush it off vs brush up

Brush up means to refresh a skill, as in brush up your French, and is unrelated to dismissing a problem.

Practice

When her friend made a harsh comment, Elena decided to ____ and not let it ruin her day.

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