무시하다
musihada[muɕʰiɦa̠da̠]
The English phrase 'ignore' is translated to Korean as 무시하다 (musihada).
무시하다 means to intentionally refuse to acknowledge or pay attention to someone or something. It can be used both for ignoring a person (socially) and for disregarding a rule, fact or warning.
Which one should you use?
While 무시하다 is the general term for ignoring, 간과하다 is a polite way to express 'ignore' suggesting overlooking or neglecting something. If you want to tell someone to stop caring or to not bother with something, you can use the casual phrase 상관하지 마.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb 무시하다 changes form based on politeness and tense: the casual form is 무시해, the polite form is 무시해요 and the formal past tense is 무시했습니다.
How do you pronounce it?
musihada
Did you know?
- Korean has a specific term 안읽씹 for when someone ignores a message by refusing to open it at all, contrasting with 읽씹.
- While 무시하다 can mean to ignore, it is also frequently used to mean 'looking down on' or 'belittling' someone's status.
- When ignoring a person, you might encounter the term 읽씹, a modern slang term used when someone reads a text message but does not reply. It is a combination of 'to read' and 'to ignore'.
Examples in context
- 제가 한 말을 왜 무시하시나요?Why are you ignoring what I said?
- 그 사건은 매체에서 간과되었습니다.That incident was ignored by the media.
- 무시하지마!Don't ignore me!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 무시하다, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
