brushing off
Giving the cold-shoulder
Brushing off is dismissing someone or something as unimportant or unworthy of attention.
You can brush off a question, a concern, or a person: She brushed off his apology without a word.
The image is of flicking away something trivial, like dust from a sleeve.
A brush-off is the noun form—a curt rejection or snub.
- dismissingRemoving from position
- blowing offIntentionally skipping or ignoring
- rebuffingCurtly refusing or dismissing
- rejectingRefusing to accept
- deflectingTurning from original path
disregarding · cold-shouldering · turning a deaf ear · trivializing · sweeping · sweeping under the rug · cleaning · overcoming · marginalizing · wiping · ignoring · paying no mind · snubbing · ostracizing · shrugging off · neglecting · slighting · dusting
- dismissive behaviorssnub, scorn, ignore, disdain, dismissal
- downplayingminimizing, downplay, trivializing, belittling, soft-pedal
- being ignoredghosting, unread messages, no reply, silence, cold shoulder
- dismissive responseswhatever, dismissal, meh, shrug, disregard
- being overlookedneglect, dismissal, unnoticed, oversight, disregard
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
brushing offattending to
Giving focus or care
heeding · addressing · taking to heart · contemplating · mulling over
brushing offacknowledging
Accepting as true
validating · taking to heart · respecting · honoring · comforting
brush, brushing, brushed, brushes, toothbrush, paintbrush, hairbrush, brushwood, airbrush