Idioms are fun phrases that mean something different from the literal words you say. People use them every day to make talking and writing much more colorful and exciting. In this lesson, you will learn a wonderful collection of idioms related to ignoring things, staying unbothered, and paying no attention.
In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms for ignore that mean paying no attention, turning a blind eye, and dismissing distractions. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Ignore
1. Turn a blind eye
Meaning: This idiom means choosing to ignore something on purpose and pretending you did not see it.
For Example: Mom decided to turn a blind eye to the tiny crumbs on the kitchen counter. / Teachers sometimes turn a blind eye to minor whispers during study time.
Other Ways to Say: Pretend not to see / Overlook intentionally
2. Turn a deaf ear
Meaning: This idiom means refusing to listen to advice, warnings, or complaints from someone.
For Example: He chose to turn a deaf ear to his friend’s warnings about the slippery sidewalk. / Whenever mom asked him to clean his room, he would turn a deaf ear.
Other Ways to Say: Refuse to listen / Ignore warnings
3. Fall on deaf ears
Meaning: This idiom means advice or warnings are completely ignored and nobody listens to them.
For Example: The teacher’s reminder to walk quietly in the hallway seemed to fall on deaf ears. / Our warnings about the rain fell on deaf ears before the picnic.
Other Ways to Say: Be ignored / Go unheeded
4. Give the cold shoulder
Meaning: This idiom means deliberately ignoring someone and acting unfriendly toward them.
For Example: After their silly argument, she decided to give him the cold shoulder all afternoon. / When he refused to share, the other kids gave him the cold shoulder.
Other Ways to Say: Shun / Act unfriendly
5. Brush it off
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring a minor insult, worry, or mistake because it does not matter.
For Example: Tripping over a shoelace is silly, just brush it off and keep running. / Don’t worry about the small mistake, simply brush it off.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore / Dismiss easily
6. Cold shoulder treatment
Meaning: This idiom describes giving someone complete silence and ignoring their presence.
For Example: Giving the noisy puppy the cold shoulder treatment didn’t work because it kept barking. / She used the cold shoulder treatment when her brother took her crayons.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore completely / Freeze out
7. Let it go
Meaning: This idiom means stopping yourself from worrying about or paying attention to a past issue.
For Example: We had a tiny disagreement about the game rules, but decided to let it go. / Forgive the minor mistake and just let it go.
Other Ways to Say: Move on / Stop caring
8. Let it ride
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring a small problem and letting things happen without interfering.
For Example: The score was close, but the referee decided to let it ride. / Don’t worry about the minor error, just let it ride.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook / Ignore temporarily
9. Shoulder past
Meaning: This idiom means walking right past someone and ignoring them in a crowd.
For Example: He tried to say hello, but she just decided to shoulder past him in the hallway. / People tend to shoulder past strangers on busy city sidewalks.
Other Ways to Say: Walk past / Ignore someone
10. Cold comfort
Meaning: This idiom means an offer of help that is so small or useless you decide to ignore it.
For Example: Telling us to walk carefully after we missed the bus felt like cold comfort. / His brief apology was cold comfort for the lost toy.
Other Ways to Say: Useless help / Ignored comfort
11. Give the brush-off
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring someone quickly and rudely when they try to talk to you.
For Example: He tried to ask about the homework, but she gave him the brush-off and walked away. / Don’t give your friends the brush-off when they need help.
Other Ways to Say: Dismiss rudely / Ignore quickly
12. Cold reception
Meaning: This idiom describes an unfriendly greeting where people ignore or show no warmth to visitors.
For Example: Walking into the messy room gave the new ideas a cold reception. / The unpopular rule change received a cold reception from students.
Other Ways to Say: Unfriendly greeting / Ignored welcome
13. Shoulder the blame and move on
Meaning: This idiom means accepting a minor error, ignoring the fuss, and continuing forward.
For Example: Just shoulder the blame and move on when you drop a pencil. / Don’t argue over small things; shoulder the blame and move on.
Other Ways to Say: Accept and ignore / Keep going
14. Look the other way
Meaning: This idiom means deliberately ignoring wrongdoing or avoiding seeing something happening.
For Example: The security guard chose to look the other way when the stray cat snuck inside. / It is easier to look the other way than to fix every tiny mistake.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore intentionally / Overlook
15. Cold stare
Meaning: This idiom describes giving someone an unfriendly look to show you are ignoring them.
For Example: When he interrupted our game, we gave him a cold stare and kept playing. / She responded to the silly joke with a cold stare.
Other Ways to Say: Unfriendly look / Glare
16. Give a wide berth
Meaning: This idiom means staying a safe distance away and ignoring something or someone risky.
For Example: Give the barking guard dog a wide berth when walking past the fence. / We decided to give the muddy puddle a wide berth.
Other Ways to Say: Keep away / Ignore safely
17. Wave aside
Meaning: This idiom means dismissing or ignoring a suggestion with a flick of your hand.
For Example: He tried to offer an idea, but the leader chose to wave it aside. / She decided to wave aside the minor complaint.
Other Ways to Say: Dismiss / Ignore
18. Push to the side
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring a task or topic temporarily to focus on something else.
For Example: Let’s push this chore to the side and finish our homework first. / He decided to push the worry to the side.
Other Ways to Say: Set aside / Ignore for now
19. Sweep under the rug
Meaning: This idiom means hiding or ignoring a problem instead of solving it properly.
For Example: You cannot just sweep your messy bedroom chores under the rug. / Ignoring the broken vase and trying to sweep it under the rug won’t work.
Other Ways to Say: Hide a problem / Ignore issues
20. Shrug off
Meaning: This idiom means treating a worry or comment as unimportant and ignoring it.
For Example: He managed to shrug off the teasing and kept playing basketball. / She knew the comment was silly, so she decided to shrug it off.
Other Ways to Say: Brush off / Ignore
21. Dismiss with a wave
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring someone’s words quickly using a hand gesture.
For Example: He tried to explain the delay, but she chose to dismiss it with a wave. / The manager answered questions and began to dismiss concerns with a wave.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore quickly / Brush off
22. Give no mind
Meaning: This idiom means paying zero attention to annoying sounds or unimportant remarks.
For Example: If people tease your drawings, give no mind and keep practicing art. / Give no mind to the background chatter while studying.
Other Ways to Say: Pay no attention / Ignore
23. Pay no heed
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring advice or warnings completely on purpose.
For Example: He decided to pay no heed to the weather forecast and left his umbrella at home. / Always pay heed to safety rules rather than paying no heed.
Other Ways to Say: Disregard / Ignore
24. Disregard
Meaning: This idiom or action word means ignoring instructions or rules intentionally.
For Example: Students who choose to disregard the safety rules will lose recess time. / Please do not disregard the teacher’s instructions.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore / Pay no attention
25. Block out
Meaning: This idiom means intentionally ignoring loud noises or distractions around you.
For Example: I wore headphones to block out the construction noise while studying. / Closing your eyes helps block out visual distractions.
Other Ways to Say: Shut out / Ignore distractions
26. Tune out
Meaning: This idiom means stopping yourself from listening to someone or something annoying.
For Example: After ten minutes of complaining, I decided to tune out and read my book. / Wearing earplugs helps you tune out a snoring puppy.
Other Ways to Say: Stop listening / Ignore sound
27. Shut out
Meaning: This idiom means completely ignoring or excluding someone from a conversation or game.
For Example: They accidentally began to shut out the new student during lunch. / Close the window to shut out the traffic noise.
Other Ways to Say: Exclude / Ignore
28. Deaf to requests
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring all pleas or requests for help.
For Example: The automated machine remained deaf to requests for extra paper. / Don’t be deaf to requests from your teammates.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore pleas / Unresponsive
29. Play dumb
Meaning: This idiom means pretending you know nothing about a topic to ignore answering questions.
For Example: When asked who ate the last cookie, he started to play dumb. / Don’t play dumb when you clearly broke the rule.
Other Ways to Say: Feign ignorance / Act clueless
30. Look past
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring minor flaws to focus on the good qualities of something.
For Example: We can look past the messy handwriting because the story is wonderful. / Looking past small mistakes helps build friendships.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook / Ignore flaws
31. Look over
Meaning: This idiom can mean inspecting quickly, but also glancing past something unimportant.
For Example: The teacher decided to look over the minor spelling error on the draft. / Glance at the instructions and look over any printing smudges.
Other Ways to Say: Glance past / Overlook
32. Let slide
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring a minor mistake or bad habit without punishing it.
For Example: Missing one punctuation mark on the essay is fine, let it slide. / The coach let the late arrival slide for today.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook / Ignore
33. Pass over
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring someone or something when making a choice or selection.
For Example: The committee decided to pass over the oldest design for a newer one. / Don’t pass over the easy reading questions.
Other Ways to Say: Skip / Ignore
34. Skip over
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring or jumping across a paragraph while reading.
For Example: You can skip over the boring introduction and read the story chapters. / Skipping over hard math problems on the first pass is smart.
Other Ways to Say: Jump past / Ignore text
35. Overlook
Meaning: This idiom means failing to notice something or choosing to ignore a minor fault.
For Example: The judge was willing to overlook the minor formatting error on the poster. / It’s easy to overlook small details when rushing.
Other Ways to Say: Miss / Ignore intentionally
36. Disregard instructions
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring the rules and doing things your own way.
For Example: Choosing to disregard instructions on the science lab will cause mistakes. / Always read carefully so you don’t disregard instructions.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore rules / Disobey
37. Give the cold shoulder completely
Meaning: This idiom means shutting someone out and ignoring them entirely.
For Example: She felt hurt when her friends gave her the cold shoulder completely. / Don’t give teammates the cold shoulder completely during losses.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore entirely / Freeze out
38. Sound proof your ears
Meaning: This idiom jokingly means ignoring loud or annoying comments completely.
For Example: When the siblings started arguing, I decided to sound proof my ears with music. / Wearing headphones helps sound proof your ears against chatter.
Other Ways to Say: Block noise / Ignore chatter
39. Play dead
Meaning: This idiom means lying still and ignoring everything happening around you.
For Example: The trained puppy knew how to play dead when commanded. / During the silly game, we had to lie still and play dead.
Other Ways toSay: Lie still / Ignore surroundings
40. Put on blinders
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring distractions to focus entirely on your own task.
For Example: Put on blinders during the exam so you aren’t distracted by others. / Staying focused requires you to put on blinders to noise.
Other Ways toSay: Focus / Ignore distractions
41. Wear blinders
Meaning: This idiom means having a narrow focus and ignoring everything outside your path.
For Example: He worked on his robot model, wearing blinders to the messy room around him. / Don’t go through life wearing blinders to new ideas.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore surroundings / Focus narrowly
42. Close your eyes to
Meaning: This idiom means deliberately ignoring a truth or a bad situation.
For Example: You cannot simply close your eyes to the messy classroom chores. / Refusing to study means closing your eyes to reality.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore truth / Overlook facts
43. Stick your head in the sand
Meaning: This idiom means hiding from trouble and ignoring problems instead of solving them.
For Example: Sticking your head in the sand won’t make your history project finish itself. / Facing challenges is better than sticking your head in the sand.
Other Ways to Say: Avoid problems / Ignore reality
44. Turn a deaf ear deliberately
Meaning: This idiom means purposefully refusing to listen to instructions or warnings.
For Example: He chose to turn a deaf ear deliberately when mom called him for dinner. / Don’t turn a deaf ear deliberately to good advice.
Other Ways to Say: Purposely ignore / Refuse listening
45. Give the silent treatment
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring someone completely by refusing to speak to them.
For Example: After losing the board game, he gave his brother the silent treatment. / Giving friends the silent treatment solves nothing.
Other Ways to Say: Refuse to speak / Ignore socially
46. Give the cold treatment
Meaning: This idiom means acting distant and ignoring someone’s friendly attempts to talk.
For Example: She gave the cold treatment to anyone who tried to rush her artwork. / Avoid giving people the cold treatment when they say hello.
Other Ways to Say: Act distant / Ignore warmly
47. Freeze out
Meaning: This idiom means deliberately ignoring and excluding someone from a group activity.
For Example: The bullies tried to freeze out the new student from the basketball game. / It’s unkind to freeze out classmates during group work.
Other Ways to Say: Exclude / Ignore socially
48. Cut dead
Meaning: This idiom means pretending you do not know someone and ignoring them completely in public.
For Example: He walked past his old acquaintance and cut him dead without a wave. / Pretending not to see someone and cutting them dead is rude.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore completely / Snub
49. Give the go-by
Meaning: This idiom means passing someone by and ignoring them entirely.
For Example: She decided to give the noisy hallway meeting the go-by and walked to class. / Don’t give your old friends the go-by.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore / Bypass
50. Look right through
Meaning: This idiom means staring at someone and acting as if they are invisible and ignored.
For Example: He looked right through me when I tried to say hello in the cafeteria. / She looked right through the noisy crowd.
Other Ways to Say: Treat as invisible / Ignore completely
51. Pretend not to notice
Meaning: This idiom means seeing something happen but choosing to ignore it politely.
For Example: When he dropped his pencil, I decided to pretend not to notice so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed. / Pretend not to notice the small mistake on the board.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook politely / Ignore
52. Give a blind eye
Meaning: This idiom means overlooking a minor rule violation and ignoring it.
For Example: The teacher gave a blind eye to the late arrival because of rain. / Parents sometimes give a blind eye to silly bedtime giggles.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook / Ignore
53. Skip over details
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring minor information to save time while reading.
For Example: You can skip over details in the long story introduction. / Skipping over details helps you finish the reading test faster.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore minor facts / Jump past
54. Screen out
Meaning: This idiom means filtering out and ignoring unwanted sounds or information.
For Example: Headphones help screen out background chatter during math class. / Try to screen out negative comments.
Other Ways to Say: Filter out / Ignore
55. Filter out
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring irrelevant details to focus on what matters.
For Example: Good readers learn to filter out unimportant descriptions in long texts. / Filter out the noise and listen to the instructions.
Other Ways to Say: Screen out / Ignore
56. Pay no mind to
Meaning: This idiom means giving zero attention to annoying or unhelpful comments.
For Example: Pay no mind to people who tell you that you cannot draw. / She told herself to pay no mind to the teasing.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore / Disregard
57. Dismiss out of hand
Meaning: This idiom means rejecting or ignoring an idea instantly without thinking about it.
For Example: Don’t dismiss out of hand suggestions made by your classmates. / He chose to dismiss the plan out of hand.
Other Ways to Say: Reject instantly / Ignore immediately
58. Shrug off criticism
Meaning: This idiom means ignoring negative comments and continuing with confidence.
For Example: Artists learn to shrug off criticism and keep painting. / It’s important to shrug off criticism from unkind peers.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore insults / Brush off
59. Let water roll off your back
Meaning: This idiom means letting unkind words and worries slide past you unignored.
For Example: Let teasing roll off your back like water on a duck. / Practice letting worries roll off your back.
Other Ways to Say: Stay unbothered / Ignore negativity
60. Cast aside
Meaning: This idiom means throwing away or ignoring something you no longer care about.
For Example: He decided to cast aside his old toys to make room for books. / Cast aside doubts and try your best.
Other Ways to Say: Discard / Ignore
Exercise to Practice
- Mom decided to ________ to the tiny crumbs on the kitchen counter.
- He chose to ________ to his friend’s warnings about the slippery sidewalk.
- The teacher’s reminder to walk quietly in the hallway seemed to ________.
- After their silly argument, she decided to ________ all afternoon.
- Tripping over a shoelace is silly, just ________ and keep running.
- Giving the noisy puppy the ________ didn’t work because it kept barking.
- We had a tiny disagreement about the game rules, but decided to ________.
- The score was close, but the referee decided to ________.
- He tried to say hello, but she just decided to ________ him in the hallway.
- Telling us to walk carefully after we missed the bus felt like ________.
- He tried to ask about the homework, but she gave him ________ and walked away.
- Walking into the messy room gave the new ideas a ________.
- Just ________ when you drop a pencil.
- The security guard chose to ________ when the stray cat snuck inside.
- When he interrupted our game, we gave him a ________ and kept playing.
Answer Key
- turn a blind eye
- turn a deaf ear
- fall on deaf ears
- give him the cold shoulder
- brush it off
- cold shoulder treatment
- let it go
- let it ride
- shoulder past
- cold comfort
- the brush-off
- cold reception
- shoulder the blame and move on
- look the other way
- cold stare
Conclusion
Learning idioms for ignore makes expressing unbothered feelings more colorful and meaningful. These expressions help you describe brushing off distractions in a creative way. They can make stories and everyday conversations more interesting and expressive. Try using these phrases when chatting with friends or writing stories at school. With practice, you can make your language sound more natural and engaging.
