ignore
- 01 B1 Intermediate
to choose not to listen to or pay attention to something, like advice or a warning.
to deliberately disregard or pay no attention to information, advice, or a stimulus.
Simple“I decided to ignore his rude comments and keep working.”
In context“The board of directors chose to ignore the consultant's warnings about the declining market, a decision that eventually led to a significant financial loss.”
UsageTakes a direct object; cannot be followed by an infinitive with 'to'.
PitfallHe ignored to my advice. He ignored my advice.The verb 'ignore' is transitive and takes a direct object; do not use the preposition 'to'.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
to pretend you do not see or hear someone you know.
to intentionally fail to acknowledge a person's presence or communication.
Simple“She ignored me in the hallway even though I said hello.”
In context“Despite having worked together for years, he pointedly ignored his former colleague at the industry conference.”
Teacher's tipThis sense often implies a social 'snub' and can be perceived as quite aggressive or rude depending on the context.
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage ignore effect · ignore factor · ignore large-scale
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-der. Latin ignōrōlbor. French ignorer English ignore From French ignorer, from Latin ignōrō (“to have no knowledge of, mistake, take no notice of, ignore”), from ignārus (“not knowing”), from in + gnārus (“knowing”), from gnōscō, nōscō; see know.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.