scoff at

My instinct is to scoff at that idea.

Most independent economists would scoff at that level of taxpayer investment, in part because the local audience for minor league baseball already is served by another California League stadium eight miles from the proposed Ontario ballpark, and in part because entertainment spending within the city would be diverted from, say, the mall or the sports arena to the ballpark.

Speaking of, Dan clearly should have had some sort of accommodation: The physical component of that challenge, on a beach, no less — was nothing to scoff at.

Though two decades of friendship is nothing to scoff at, here Liman was coming to Boston to work with Damon and the Affleck brothers, Casey and Ben, whose roots were twice as deep.

Where a cynic might scoff at the image of a tourist trap, we know he saw these oft-visited sites as just as important in the city’s tapestry as its most hidden secrets.