Basic+ Word of the Day: ignore

ignore (verb) past tense: ignored

I'm ignoring you!

If you ignore something, it means that you act like you didn’t see it or didn’t know about it.

• There was a strange smell coming from the car, but he ignored it and continued driving.

If you ignore someone, it means that you don’t reply to that person when they speak to you or send you a message.

• I sent her five emails but I think she’s ignoring me.

It can also mean that you act like someone isn’t there.

• The waiter saw me but he ignored me.

Common uses

When we send someone a message, and then decide that we don’t want them to read it, we can ask them to ignore it. For example, “Please ignore my last email. I sent you the wrong information.”

In pop culture

Can you imagine ignoring a man with a gun? That’s exactly what this restaurant owner did! Watch what happened. Listen to him say, “I completely ignored him!”

There are other meanings of ignore.