Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

fob off

verb

Definition of fob off

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  to put off with a trick, excuse, or inferior substitute

  3. 2 :  to pass or offer (something spurious) as genuine

  4. 3 :  to put aside now fob off what once they would have welcomed eagerly — Walter Lippmann

Explore Merriam-Webster

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?
watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square
image1489982902
Devilish Words
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Examples of fob off in a Sentence

  1. people who try to fob off to charities broken-down furniture that is fit only for the junkyard

First Known Use of fob off

1597

fob off Synonyms

Synonyms
foist, palm, palm off, pass off, wish
Related Words
entail, force, impose, inflict; counterfeit, fake, forge; distort, falsify, misrepresent

Learn More about fob off

  1. See words that rhyme with fob off Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for fob off

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fob off? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

depredate

play

to plunder or ravage

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. Svengali 'A person who manipulates'

  2. syzygy An obscure astronomy term goes mainstream

  3. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  4. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

  5. white nationalist, white supremacist Trending in 2017

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

fob off

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

  • time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
  • Which came first?
True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

image1489982902
Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435
How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face
Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
True or False
True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game
Examples: fob off in a Sentence