Translation guide
To dismiss something with laughter, treating it as unimportant or not serious.
To treat a problem, criticism, or suggestion as unimportant by laughing about it.
The most direct equivalent. To laugh something off, dismissing it as trivial.
彼は批判を笑い飛ばした。
He laughed off the criticism.
失敗を笑い飛ばして、前に進もう。
Let's laugh off our failures and move forward.
To laugh it off by deflecting or covering up embarrassment or awkwardness.
彼女は失敗を笑ってごまかした。
She laughed off her mistake.
Literary/formal expression meaning to laugh something off or dismiss with a laugh.
彼はその噂を一笑に付した。
He laughed off the rumor.
To treat something serious as if it's a joke, often to reduce tension or avoid dealing with it.
To pass something off as a joke and move on, effectively laughing it off.
彼は自分の失言を冗談にして済ませた。
He laughed off his gaffe by turning it into a joke.
Directly translating 'laugh off' as 笑いオフ or similar is unnatural. Use the phrases provided.
笑い飛ばす emphasizes actively dismissing something as trivial, while 笑ってごまかす focuses on using laughter to cover up embarrassment or awkwardness.
批判を笑い飛ばす
laugh off criticism (dismiss it)
失敗を笑ってごまかす
laugh off a mistake (cover it up)
To laugh it off and consider the matter settled, often implying avoidance.
問題を笑って済ませるわけにはいかない。
We can't just laugh off the problem.