winking (at)

verb

present participle of wink (at)
as in ignoring
to dismiss as of little importance for too long the school just winked at the young athletes' hooliganism, dismissing it as a case of "boys being boys"

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for winking (at)
  1. ignoring
  2. forgiving
  3. overlooking
  4. passing over
  5. explaining
  6. shrugging off
  7. papering over
Verb
  • October 06, 2026 Optimism isn’t about ignoring problems or pretending everything will work out.
    — Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Sutskever is the moral center of the film and grows increasingly uncomfortable as Altman forges ahead with complicated AI models that have learned how to lie, willfully ignoring risks.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of ignoring
Verb
  • Telluride’s ski area stretches across more than 2,000 acres, from wide, forgiving groomers to steep chutes and bowls, with the terrain climbing to 12,570 feet.
    — Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The schedule is not forgiving — Texas and Georgia await; doormats Arkansas and South Carolina do not — and the Rebels could find themselves on the bubble, needing to point to LSU as a resume win.
    — Seth Emerson, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of forgiving
Verb
  • The clubhouse would have a bar, restaurant, locker rooms and verandas overlooking the golf course and tennis courts.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Domaine Drouhin Oregon 2023 Arthur Chardonnay Dundee Hills Domaine Drouhin Oregon covers 235 acres in the Dundee Hills overlooking the Willamette Valley.
    — Mike DeSimone, Robb Report, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of overlooking
Verb
  • The probability of a hurricane passing over any particular point is low, especially farther from the Mexican coast, since most Pacific hurricanes tend to stay closer to Mexico.
    — Nicholas Grondin, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Related Articles The board previously resolved to erect new buildings for the Latino Museum and the American Women’s History Museum, passing over Arts and Industries.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of passing over
Verb
  • The rich collections do a great job of honoring visual traditions and explaining their connections to real people and real places.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Oct. 2026
  • China’s leading firms are still just approaching top US labs in capabilities, partly explaining their lack of transparency.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of explaining
Verb
  • But on Tuesday, senators failed to advance the firms’ top legislative priority, shrugging off the threat of tens of millions of dollars that still could hit them this fall.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Part of it is that more women are speaking up about hair loss, shrugging off the stigma and reaching out for help.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of shrugging off
Verb
  • But many residents worry that the festive mood and infrastructure works risk papering over the security crisis that still affects their daily lives.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
  • The improvement between Gemini 2 and Gemini 3 may be papering over a more serious flaw.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of papering over
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

winking
winking (at)
winking (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Winking (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winking%20%28at%29. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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