Shrug
/ʃrʌɡ/noun
To raise and draw in the shoulders, especially to show indifference or uncertainty.
Did you know?English shrug is first recorded in the 16th century and likely imitates the physical motion itself, which makes it one of those words where the body seems to have spoken before the dictionary did.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
English
shrugge
“To draw up or contract the shoulders in a gesture of indifference or disdain”
16th Century
English
shrug
“An act of raising and contracting the shoulders”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skruk- / *skrug-
“Likely an expressive base imitating a huddling, crouching, or jerking motion”
Old English
OE
(no secure direct attestation)
“No firmly established earlier English form is attested”
Modern English
English
shrug
“To lift the shoulders briefly to express uncertainty, indifference, or dismissal”