brush off
"brush-off" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brush off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To disregard (something), to dismiss or ignore (someone), as unimportant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-brush-off · brush off · English
brush off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brush off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “brush off” in English
Rare enough to double-check
brush off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for brush off, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is brush off, spelled B-R-U-S-H- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1To disregard (something), to dismiss or ignore (someone), as unimportant.
- 2To depart with a sweeping motion; to rush away.
- 3Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see brush, off. To remove something with a brush.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how brush off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Again I begged her to keep an eye on her blood pressure and not get so worked up, and once more she brushed me off, this time with a curt request that I would go and boil my head.
In a statement sent to the Guardian early on Friday, hours before Trump’s post was taken down, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, attempted to brush off the outrage.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.