shrug

1 of 2

verb

ˈshrəg 

 especially Southern  ˈsrəg

shrugged; shrugging

intransitive verb

: to raise or draw in the shoulders especially to express aloofness, indifference, or uncertainty

transitive verb

: to lift or contract (the shoulders) especially to express aloofness, indifference, or uncertainty

shrug

2 of 2

noun

1

: an act of shrugging

2

: a woman's small waist-length or shorter jacket

Examples of shrug in a Sentence

Verb

I asked if he wanted to go out to dinner, and he just shrugged.

He just shrugged his shoulders.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

But privately, several lobbyists generally shrugged at the idea of limiting their own donations. —Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 28 Mar. 2025

Paltrow then turns the camera to Markle, who eats a piece of pie and shrugs her shoulders. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Mar. 2025

Noun

The remarks were met with a relative shrug from Republicans, who dismissed the seriousness of the president’s comments, and by some Democrats, who view them as a distraction from kitchen-table issues and concerning new polling for Trump. —Brett Samuels, The Hill, 31 Mar. 2025

In public at least, the studios appear to be responding with a collective shrug to what some regard as AI slop on YouTube, despite CEOs like Bob Iger opining about the need to protect IP and respect talent. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 28 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English schruggen

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing shrug

• shrug off

Rhymes for shrug

• chug
• doug
• drug
• dug
• hug
• jug
• lug
• mug
• plug
• pug
• rug
• rugg

Kids Definition

shrug

verb

ˈshrəg

shrugged; shrugging

: to draw or hunch up the shoulders usually to express doubt, uncertainty, or lack of interest

shrug noun