Idioms are special phrases where the words together have a different meaning than what they say individually. People use them to make their speaking and writing sound more colorful, interesting, and natural. In this lesson, you will learn fifty useful idioms that can help you talk about ignoring someone or paying no attention.
In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms that mean disregarding or failing to notice things on purpose. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Ignore
1. Turn a blind eye
Definition: To pretend you do not see something bad happening.
Used in a Sentence: The store manager decided to turn a blind eye to the kids playing tag near the boxes. / You cannot just turn a blind eye when rules are broken right in front of you.
Similar Expressions: Pretend not to notice / Overlook on purpose
2. Give someone the cold shoulder
Definition: To intentionally ignore or be unfriendly to someone.
Used in a Sentence: After the argument, she gave her teammate the cold shoulder all afternoon. / He felt sad when his friends gave him the cold shoulder at lunch.
Similar Expressions: Shut someone out / Freeze out
3. Fall on deaf ears
Definition: When advice or requests are completely ignored by the listener.
Used in a Sentence: The teacher’s warning about running in the hallway fell on deaf ears. / My advice to clean his room early always falls on deaf ears.
Similar Expressions: Ignored completely / Unheard request
4. Brush under the carpet
Definition: To hide or ignore a problem so people forget about it.
Used in a Sentence: We cannot just brush the broken window under the carpet and hope it fixes itself. / He tried to brush his messy grade under the carpet before his parents saw.
Similar Expressions: Sweep aside / Hide the issue
5. Play ostrich
Definition: To ignore danger or trouble by pretending it does not exist.
Used in a Sentence: Playing ostrich during tax season will only make your stress worse later. / Instead of studying, she decided to play ostrich and go to the park.
Similar Expressions: Avoid reality / Bury your head
6. Give the brush off
Definition: To rudely ignore or dismiss someone who wants your attention.
Used in a Sentence: I tried to ask him a question, but he gave me the brush off. / She gave the salesperson the brush off and kept walking.
Similar Expressions: Brush off / Dismiss quickly
7. Look the other way
Definition: To deliberately refuse to notice an illegal or wrong action.
Used in a Sentence: The guard chose to look the other way when the cat snuck into the kitchen. / It is wrong for leaders to look the other way when bullying happens.
Similar Expressions: Ignore wrongdoing / Disregard
8. Let it go
Definition: To stop worrying about or paying attention to a past issue.
Used in a Sentence: Even though he teased you, it is best to just let it go. / She took a deep breath and decided to let the petty argument go.
Similar Expressions: Move on / Drop it
9. Give a wide berth
Definition: To stay far away from someone or something and ignore them completely.
Used in a Sentence: It is smart to give stray dogs a wide berth when walking home. / He decided to give the angry teacher a wide berth today.
Similar Expressions: Keep your distance / Avoid entirely
10. Stick your head in the sand
Definition: To refuse to acknowledge a dangerous or obvious situation.
Used in a Sentence: Sticking your head in the sand will not make your overdue project disappear. / He likes to stick his head in the sand whenever chores pile up.
Similar Expressions: Deny reality / Ignore danger
11. Shrug off
Definition: To treat something important as unimportant and pay no mind to it.
Used in a Sentence: He managed to shrug off the mean comment and keep smiling. / Do not just shrug off your health checkups.
Similar Expressions: Brush off / Dismiss lightly
12. Give the silent treatment
Definition: To refuse to speak to someone as a way of ignoring them.
Used in a Sentence: My brother gave me the silent treatment after I borrowed his video game. / Giving your friends the silent treatment solves nothing.
Similar Expressions: Refuse to talk / Ignore coldly
13. Turn a deaf ear
Definition: To refuse to listen or pay attention to someone’s pleas.
Used in a Sentence: The parents turned a deaf ear to the child’s endless demands for candy. / She turned a deaf ear to his excuses.
Similar Expressions: Ignore pleas / Refuse to hear
14. Blow off
Definition: To treat a plan or a person with casual disregard.
Used in a Sentence: He decided to blow off practice to go watch a movie with friends. / It hurts when your best friend tries to blow you off.
Similar Expressions: Dismiss / Skip casually
15. Pay no mind
Definition: To give zero attention to what someone is saying or doing.
Used in a Sentence: Pay no mind to the loud noises outside your window. / She told herself to pay no mind to the rude remarks.
Similar Expressions: Ignore completely / Disregard
16. Tune out
Definition: To stop listening to someone or something on purpose.
Used in a Sentence: The kids started to tune out during the long history lecture. / I always tune out when commercials come on television.
Similar Expressions: Stop listening / Disengage
17. Close your eyes to
Definition: To deliberately refuse to accept that a bad situation is real.
Used in a Sentence: You cannot close your eyes to the pollution in our local park. / Closing your eyes to the truth will only hurt you later.
Similar Expressions: Ignore reality / Blind oneself
18. Give the runaround
Definition: To ignore someone’s direct needs by sending them away repeatedly.
Used in a Sentence: The customer service desk gave me the runaround instead of fixing my bill. / Stop giving me the runaround and answer my question.
Similar Expressions: Evade / Stall
19. Wave away
Definition: To dismiss something with a hand motion to show you do not care about it.
Used in a Sentence: He waved away my concerns about the weather as if it did not matter. / She waved away the extra paperwork on her desk.
Similar Expressions: Dismiss with a gesture / Brush aside
20. Give short shrift
Definition: To deal with someone or something quickly and without proper attention.
Used in a Sentence: The committee gave short shrift to the new community proposal. / Do not give short shrift to your safety rules.
Similar Expressions: Treat lightly / Ignore quickly
21. Pass over
Definition: To ignore someone for a reward, promotion, or notice.
Used in a Sentence: He felt disappointed when the coach passed him over for team captain. / Do not pass over great ideas just because they are simple.
Similar Expressions: Ignore / Skip over
22. Turn your back on
Definition: To abandon or refuse to help someone who needs you.
Used in a Sentence: A true friend will never turn their back on you in hard times. / He decided to turn his back on his old hobby.
Similar Expressions: Abandon / Disregard completely
23. Give the cold potato
Definition: To ignore someone completely or treat them with total indifference.
Used in a Sentence: She felt left out when the group gave her the cold potato treatment. / Treating your peers with cold indifference helps nobody.
Similar Expressions: Cold shoulder / Total neglect
24. Let slide
Definition: To ignore a small mistake or rule violation instead of punishing it.
Used in a Sentence: The teacher let the late homework slide just this once. / We cannot let safety rules slide under any circumstances.
Similar Expressions: Overlook / Ignore minor errors
25. Put on the back burner
Definition: To delay dealing with a task or ignore it for a long time.
Used in a Sentence: Our trip to the museum was put on the back burner until spring. / He put his art project on the back burner to focus on math.
Similar Expressions: Delay / Postpone
26. Gloss over
Definition: To treat a serious topic with quick disregard to avoid details.
Used in a Sentence: The speaker tried to gloss over the big mistake in the report. / Do not gloss over important safety steps in chemistry class.
Similar Expressions: Skim over / Hide details
27. Brush aside
Definition: To refuse to consider someone’s ideas or feelings.
Used in a Sentence: She brushed aside his worries as if they were silly. / The boss tried to brush aside the worker complaints.
Similar Expressions: Dismiss / Ignore casually
28. Give zero thought
Definition: To completely ignore thinking about the consequences of an action.
Used in a Sentence: He gave zero thought to how his prank would affect others. / Making that purchase required zero thought from him.
Similar Expressions: Thoughtless / Careless
29. Play dead
Definition: To ignore a situation or pretend you are not involved to stay safe.
Used in a Sentence: Some animals play dead to trick predators in the wild. / He tried to play dead when the teacher asked who made the noise.
Similar Expressions: Hide involvement / Play possum
30. Turn a deaf ear to
Definition: To ignore requests or complaints on purpose.
Used in a Sentence: Management turned a deaf ear to the workers asking for better chairs. / She turned a deaf ear to all complaints about her singing.
Similar Expressions: Ignore pleas / Shut out complaints
31. Look past
Definition: To ignore a flaw or mistake to see the good side.
Used in a Sentence: We can look past his messy desk because his work is so good. / She looked past the rough beginning of the movie.
Similar Expressions: Overlook / Forgive flaws
32. Keep at arm’s length
Definition: To ignore intimacy and keep someone at a distant distance.
Used in a Sentence: He prefers to keep new acquaintances at arm’s length. / It is wise to keep dishonest people at arm’s length.
Similar Expressions: Keep distant / Avoid closeness
33. Shrug off responsibility
Definition: To ignore your duties and pretend they are not yours.
Used in a Sentence: You cannot just shrug off responsibility for cleaning the kitchen. / He tried to shrug off responsibility for the broken fence.
Similar Expressions: Avoid duty / Neglect task
34. Give the old heave-ho
Definition: To dismiss or ignore someone by kicking them out.
Used in a Sentence: The club gave the troublemaker the old heave-ho. / We had to give the broken old chair the old heave-ho.
Similar Expressions: Kick out / Dismiss
35. Make light of
Definition: To treat a serious problem as if it is funny or unimportant.
Used in a Sentence: Do not make light of failing a test because it is important. / He tried to make light of his mistake by laughing.
Similar Expressions: Joke about / Ignore seriousness
36. Dismiss with a wave
Definition: To ignore someone’s opinion instantly with a hand motion.
Used in a Sentence: The director dismissed my suggestion with a wave of his hand. / She dismissed his complaint with a wave.
Similar Expressions: Brush off / Reject quickly
37. Give a blind eye
Definition: To ignore bad behavior happening around you.
Used in a Sentence: Parents should not give a blind eye to bad manners. / The referee did not give a blind eye to the foul.
Similar Expressions: Overlook / Turn away
38. Skip over
Definition: To ignore a section of text or part of a plan intentionally.
Used in a Sentence: Let us skip over the boring introduction and get to the story. / The teacher told us to skip over chapter two.
Similar Expressions: Jump past / Omit
39. Pay no attention
Definition: To completely ignore what is happening around you.
Used in a Sentence: Pay no attention to the flashing lights outside. / She told the kids to pay no attention to the loud thunder.
Similar Expressions: Ignore / Disregard
40. Shut out
Definition: To block someone out and ignore their presence completely.
Used in a Sentence: He tried to shut out the sound of traffic while studying. / She felt shut out by her group of friends.
Similar Expressions: Exclude / Block
41. Give the cold look
Definition: To ignore someone by staring at them coldly.
Used in a Sentence: When he walked past, she gave him the cold look and kept walking. / The coach gave a cold look to the late player.
Similar Expressions: Stare coldly / Ignore
42. Disregard entirely
Definition: To pay zero attention to rules or advice.
Used in a Sentence: You must not disregard entirely the safety manual. / He chose to disregard entirely the speed limit sign.
Similar Expressions: Ignore fully / Reject
43. Give the brush
Definition: To push someone aside and ignore their request.
Used in a Sentence: She gave the reporter the brush and walked inside. / Do not give your little brother the brush when he asks for help.
Similar Expressions: Dismiss / Push away
44. Pass by on the other side
Definition: To ignore someone in trouble and refuse to help.
Used in a Sentence: It is cowardly to pass by on the other side when someone drops their books. / Do not pass by on the other side when a classmate needs assistance.
Similar Expressions: Ignore need / Avoid helping
45. Put aside
Definition: To ignore or save something for later consideration.
Used in a Sentence: Let us put aside our differences and finish the project together. / He put aside his anger to help his sister.
Similar Expressions: Set aside / Postpone
46. Turn a blind eye to
Definition: To deliberately ignore bad deeds.
Used in a Sentence: The teacher refused to turn a blind eye to cheating. / We cannot turn a blind eye to littering in the park.
Similar Expressions: Ignore wrong / Overlook bad acts
47. Cold indifference
Definition: To ignore someone completely by showing zero care.
Used in a Sentence: His cold indifference hurt her feelings more than angry words. / She treated the rude comment with cold indifference.
Similar Expressions: Apathy / Complete neglect
48. Sweep under the rug
Definition: To hide or ignore an unpleasant truth.
Used in a Sentence: They tried to sweep the budget error under the rug before auditing. / You cannot sweep mistakes under the rug forever.
Similar Expressions: Hide problem / Ignore truth
49. Look the other way from
Definition: To ignore a rule break intentionally.
Used in a Sentence: The clerk looked the other way from the minor line cut. / It is bad practice to look the other way from safety hazards.
Similar Expressions: Overlook / Ignore
50. Turn a deaf ear toward
Definition: To ignore advice or suggestions completely.
Used in a Sentence: He turned a deaf ear toward his parents’ advice about saving money. / She turned a deaf ear toward the helpful hints.
Similar Expressions: Ignore advice / Refuse counsel
Exercise to Practice
- The store manager decided to turn a blind eye to the kids playing tag near the boxes.
- After the argument, she gave her teammate the cold shoulder all afternoon.
- The teacher’s warning about running in the hallway fell on deaf ears.
- Playing tax season games like a bird will help you ignore your stress.
- The guard chose to look the other way when the cat snuck into the kitchen.
- Even though he teased you, it is best to just let it go.
- It is smart to give stray dogs a wide berth when walking home.
- Sticking your head in the sand will instantly make your overdue project disappear.
- He decided to turn his back on his old hobby by practicing it every single day.
- The teacher let the late homework slide just this once.
- You must not disregard entirely the safety manual.
- She tried to sweep the budget error under the rug before auditing.
- He managed to shrug off the mean comment and keep smiling.
- My brother gave me the silent treatment after I borrowed his video game.
- The committee gave short shrift to the new community proposal by reading every single word for three hours.
Answer Key
- True
- True
- True
- False
- True
- True
- True
- False
- False
- True
- True
- True
- True
- True
- False
Conclusion
Learning these idioms helps you describe situations where people ignore things or push issues aside. Using varied vocabulary makes your English sound much more natural and expressive.
Try practicing one or two new idioms each day in your writing or conversations. Soon, using these fun expressions will become second nature to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some common idioms for ignore?
Common idioms include phrases like turn a blind eye, give the cold shoulder, and sweep under the rug. These expressions help describe situations where someone chooses to disregard people or problems.
Why do we use idioms in English?
Idioms add color, emotion, and creativity to everyday speech and writing. They allow people to share cultural meanings in a quick and vivid way.
Can I use idioms about ignoring things in formal writing?
Some idioms are casual, so you should choose ones that fit the tone of your essay or story. Using conversational idioms works best in creative writing or informal discussions.
How many idioms should I learn for everyday English?
Learning twenty to fifty versatile idioms is a great goal for most students. Quality and correct usage matter much more than memorizing hundreds of them.
How can I practice using idioms correctly?
You can practice by writing sentences and short paragraphs using a new idiom each day. Getting feedback from a teacher ensures you use them in the right context.
