Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

pass off

verb

Definition of pass off

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  to make public or offer for sale with intent to deceive

  3. 2 :  to give a false identity or character to

See pass off defined for kids

Explore M-W

image1489982902
Devilish Words
alt-59973139034d4
Trending: 'Svengali' Bannon leaving White House
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

Examples of pass off in a Sentence

  1. the con man tried to pass off a piece of blue glass as a sapphire

First Known Use of pass off

1681

pass off Synonyms

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

Law Dictionary

pass off

transitive verb

Legal Definition of pass off

  1. 1 :  to make public or offer for sale (goods or services) with intent to deceive :  palm off passing his product off as that of the plaintiff's — W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton — see also unfair competition

  2. 2 :  to give a false identity or character to they created the documents on the day of the trial and passed them off as being made earlier

Learn More about pass off

  1. See words that rhyme with pass off Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for pass off Nglish: Translation of pass off for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up pass 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

pass 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
SCRABBLE® Sprint

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
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game
Examples: pass off in a Sentence