shrug
shrug — verb
1. to briefly lift the shoulders and let them fall, signalling that you have no ans
to briefly lift the shoulders and let them fall, signalling that you have no answer, feel indifferent, or accept something you cannot change.
When the boss asked who had sent the email, the secretary shrugged and walked away.
intransitive: just shrugged
Lucía shrugged her shoulders and said she had no idea where the files were.
transitive: shrug one's shoulders
Eric tried to shrug off his teammate's harsh words, but they still upset him.
phrasal pattern: shrug off [criticism]
Kofi simply shrugged when the waiter brought the wrong dish.
- shrug one's shoulders
- shrug off
- just shrug
- shrug in reply
- hunch
more about forward rounding of the shoulders, not necessarily expressing uncertainty
Grammar Patterns
shrug (one's shoulders)
shrug + adverb/preposition
Usage Note
Frequently used without an object. When transitive, the object is almost always 'shoulders' (plural). The phrasal verb 'shrug off' is common and means to dismiss or ignore something unpleasant.
Common Mistakes
shrug aside
phrasal verbTo treat something as unimportant or not worth worrying about.
Maya shrugged aside her friend's warning about the storm.
Why did you shrug aside his helpful advice so quickly?
shrug away
phrasal verbTo get rid of a feeling or problem by ignoring it.
Brian tried to shrug away his disappointment after losing the game.
She shrugged away the pain and continued running.
shrug off
phrasal verbTo treat something as unimportant or to recover quickly from something negative.
Diego shrugged off the criticism and kept working on his project.
How did you shrug off that cold so fast?
shrug — noun
1. an act of quickly lifting and dropping your shoulders, which shows that you do n
an act of quickly lifting and dropping your shoulders, which shows that you do not know or care about something, or that you accept a situation you cannot change.
Benjamin's only reply was a shrug — he clearly did not care about the new rules.
countable: a shrug
With a brief shrug, Walid accepted the bad news and walked out.
with a shrug of one's shoulders
The interviewer noticed Dahlia's tiny shrug when the salary was mentioned.
Tuan gave a quick shrug and returned to his book when the phone rang.
- with a shrug
- a shrug of the shoulders
- give a shrug
- a slight shrug
Grammar Patterns
a shrug
with a shrug
Usage Note
Usually singular. Commonly appears in the phrase 'with a shrug' to describe the manner in which someone reacts to something.
2. a short piece of women's clothing that covers only the shoulders and the top of
a short piece of women's clothing that covers only the shoulders and the top of the arms, worn over a dress or blouse as a light layer.
Caio's mother wore a cream-coloured shrug over her summer dress to the evening party.
clothing: wore a shrug over [garment]
Adina bought a black knitted shrug to wear with her sleeveless gown at the gala.
The shop near the station sells silk shrugs in bright colours for the spring collection.
Élise borrowed her sister's grey shrug to wear to the job interview.
- knitted shrug
- cashmere shrug
- silk shrug
- wear a shrug
- a shrug over [clothing]
Grammar Patterns
a shrug
a [material] shrug
wear a shrug