laugh off

laugh off
verb
deal with a problem by laughing or pretending to be amused by it (Freq. 1)
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She laughs away all these problems

• Syn: ↑laugh away
• Hypernyms:
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

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[verb]
disregard, brush aside, dismiss, ignore, minimize, pooh-pooh, shrug off

* * *

transitive verb
: to minimize by treating as amusingly or absurdly trivial

officials laugh off these reports as nonsense — L.E.Davies

you can't laugh off a royal commission — Alan Villiers

* * *

laugh off
To treat (injuries, etc) as of no importance
• • •
Main Entry: ↑laugh

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ˌlaugh ˈoff ˌlaugh a ˈway [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they laugh off he/she/it laughs off present participle laughing off past tense laughed off past participle laughed off] phrasal verb
to joke about something in order to show that you think it is not important or serious

They just laughed off the rumours that they are getting married.

Thesaurus: to not value something or someonesynonym
Main entry: laugh

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laugh off [phrasal verb]
laugh (something) off or laugh off (something) : to laugh about or make jokes about (something) in order to make people think it is not serious or important

The candidate laughed off the question about his marriage.

The injury was serious, but he laughed it off.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑laugh

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • laugh off — (something) to act as if something is not important to you. It s not easy to laugh off an insult. She criticizes his work constantly but he doesn t get angry, he just laughs it off …   New idioms dictionary

  • laugh off — phrasal verb laugh off or laugh away [transitive] Word forms laugh off : present tense I/you/we/they laugh off he/she/it laughs off present participle laughing off past tense laughed off past participle laughed off to joke about something in… …   English dictionary

  • laugh off — PHRASAL VERB If you laugh off a difficult or serious situation, you try to suggest that it is amusing and unimportant, for example by making a joke about it. [V P n (not pron)] The couple laughed off rumours that their marriage was in trouble...… …   English dictionary

  • laugh off — {v.} To dismiss with a laugh as not important or not serious; not take seriously. * /He had a bad fall while ice skating but he laughed it off./ * /You can t laugh off a ticket for speeding./ Compare: MAKE LIGHT OF …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • laugh off — {v.} To dismiss with a laugh as not important or not serious; not take seriously. * /He had a bad fall while ice skating but he laughed it off./ * /You can t laugh off a ticket for speeding./ Compare: MAKE LIGHT OF …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • laugh\ off — v To dismiss with a laugh as not important or not serious; not take seriously. He had a bad fall while ice skating but he laughed it off. You can t laugh off a ticket for speeding. Compare: make light of …   Словарь американских идиом

  • laugh off something — laugh off (something) to act as if something is not important to you. It s not easy to laugh off an insult. She criticizes his work constantly but he doesn t get angry, he just laughs it off …   New idioms dictionary

  • laugh off —    When you laugh about something that has upset or hurt you, to make it seem less important or to try to show that you do not care, youlaugh it off.     She overheard her colleague s critical remark, but she laughed it off …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • laugh off — (Roget s IV) v. Syn. deride, dismiss, ignore, shrug off; see scorn 2 …   English dictionary for students

  • laugh off — not take seriously He laughed off the attempt of his boss to tell him that he should try and come to work on time …   Idioms and examples

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