passing

¹pass·ing

noun \ˈpa-siŋ\

Definition of PASSING

: the act of one that passes or causes to pass; especially : death 1a

— in passing

: by the way : incidentally

Examples of PASSING

1. After her husband's passing, she moved to a smaller house.
2. We all mourned his passing.

First Known Use of PASSING

14th century

Related to PASSING

Synonyms

curtains, decease, demise, dissolution, doom, end, exit, expiration, expiry, fate, grave, great divide, passage, death, quietus, sleep

Antonyms

birth, nativity

Related Words

casualty, fatality; martyrdom, self-destruction, self-murder, self-slaughter, suicide; annihilation, destruction, ending, extermination, ruin; assassination, execution, killing, massacre, slaughter

Near Antonyms

existence, life; creation, genesis, origination, rise

²passing

adjective

Definition of PASSING

1

: going by or past <a passing pedestrian>

2

: having a brief duration <a passing whim>

3

obsolete : surpassing

4

: superficial <a passing acquaintance> <a passing resemblance>

5

a : of, relating to, or used in or for the act or process of passing <passing lanes>

b : given on satisfactory completion of an examination or course of study <a passing grade>

Examples of PASSING

1. Someone called out from a passing car.
2. She sells flowers to passing motorists.
3. Let's hope that these shoes are just a passing fad.
4. a passing phase in childhood

First Known Use of PASSING

14th century

Related to PASSING

Synonyms

brief, deciduous, ephemeral, evanescent, flash, fleeting, fugacious, fugitive, impermanent, momentary, short-lived, temporary, transient, transitory

Antonyms

ceaseless, dateless, deathless, endless, enduring, eternal, everlasting, immortal, lasting, long-lived, permanent, perpetual, timeless, undying, unending

Related Words

little, short, shortish; acting, interim, provisional, short-term

Near Antonyms

lifelong; continuing, durable, persistent; imperishable, indefectible, indestructible

³passing

adverb

Definition of PASSING

: to a surpassing degree : exceedingly <passing strange>

Examples of PASSING

1. <a passing strange turn of events>

First Known Use of PASSING

14th century

Related to PASSING

Synonyms

achingly, almighty, archly, awful, awfully, badly, beastly, blisteringly, bone, colossally, corking, cracking, damn, damned, dang, deadly, desperately, eminently, enormously, especially, ever, exceedingly (also exceeding), extra, extremely, fabulously, fantastically, far, fiercely, filthy, frightfully, full, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, immensely, incredibly, intensely, jolly, majorly, mightily, mighty, monstrous [chiefly dialect], mortally, most, much, particularly, very, rattling, real, really, right, roaring, roaringly, seriously, severely, so, sore, sorely, spanking, specially, stinking, such, super, supremely, surpassingly, terribly, that, thumping, too, unco, uncommonly, vastly, vitally, way, whacking, wicked, wildly

Antonyms

little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat

Related Words

absolutely, altogether, completely, downright, entirely, flat-out, fully, positively, purely, radically, thoroughly, totally, utterly, wholly; deeply, profoundly; exceptionally, notably, remarkably; considerably, extensively, significantly, substantially; appreciably, discernibly, markedly, noticeably, obviously, palpably, plainly, visibly; abundantly, plentifully; astronomically, grandly, monstrously, monumentally; excessively, obscenely, overmuch; amazingly, astonishingly, staggeringly

Near Antonyms

meagerly, scantily; barely, hardly, just, marginally, minimally, scarcely