Crossword Genius

Dismiss small rough unstable fellows (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shrug off

'dismiss' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'small rough unstable fellows' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'unstable' indicates an anagram.
'fellows' becomes 'ff'.
'rough' with letters rearranged gives 'hrugo'.
's'+'hrugo'+'ff'='SHRUG OFF'

(Other definitions for shrug off that I've seen before include "Rid oneself of" , "Get rid of - show indifference to" , "Dismiss (something) as unimportant" , "Brush aside, disregard the importance of" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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