Library / English Dictionary

IGNORE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be ignorant of or in the dark about

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Antonym:

know (be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about)

Derivation:

ignorance (the lack of knowledge or education)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give little or no attention to

Example:

Disregard the errors

Synonyms:

disregard; ignore; neglect

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignore"):

pretermit (disregard intentionally or let pass)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bar from attention or consideration

Example:

She dismissed his advances

Synonyms:

brush aside; brush off; discount; dismiss; disregard; ignore; push aside

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ignore" is one way to...):

reject (refuse to accept or acknowledge)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignore"):

cold-shoulder; slight (pay no attention to, disrespect)

discredit (cause to be distrusted or disbelieved)

shrug off (minimize the importance of, brush aside)

pass off (disregard)

flout; scoff (treat with contemptuous disregard)

turn a blind eye (refuse to acknowledge)

laugh away; laugh off (deal with a problem by laughing or pretending to be amused by it)

disoblige (ignore someone's wishes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Refuse to acknowledge

Example:

She cut him dead at the meeting

Synonyms:

cut; disregard; ignore; snub

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ignore" is one way to...):

do by; handle; treat (interact in a certain way)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fail to notice

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignore"):

pass up (fail to acknowledge)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Antonym:

notice (notice or perceive)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The WMO says the overall long-term warming trend since the late 1970s is worrying and cannot be ignored.

(World Meteorological Org.: Arctic Warming Appears Irreversible, VOA)

I'm too detached to talk scandal, and yet at scientific conversaziones I HAVE heard something of Challenger, for he is one of those men whom nobody can ignore.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Among the terriers he stalked imperiously, and Toots and Ysabel he utterly ignored, for he was king,—king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller’s place, humans included.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The team found that previous researchers depended on the most evocative written accounts, applying them to other places in the Mediterranean world while ignoring hundreds of contemporary texts that do not mention plague.

(Justinianic plague not a landmark pandemic?, National Science Foundation)

CHAI Foundation is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization formed to fund biomedical research into promising avenues largely ignored because they do not conform to current group-think.

(CHAI Foundation, NCI Thesaurus)

Many earlier attempts to estimate the number of species on Earth ignored microorganisms or were informed by older datasets based on biased techniques or questionable extrapolations.

(Researchers find that Earth may be home to 1 trillion species, NSF)

The results show a strong link between pesticides and colon cancer mortality and as such cannot be ignored, says co-author Francis Martin, based at the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

(Pesticides blamed for rise in colon cancer deaths, SciDev.Net)

His instinct would not permit him to attack her, while her persistence would not permit him to ignore her.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He ignored Mr. Morse, who said: I am unconvinced. All socialists are Jesuits.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But Wolf Larsen ignored that worthy, turning at once to the cabin-boy.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)