rite of passage

noun

plural rites of passage

: a ritual, event, or experience that marks or constitutes a major milestone or change in a person's life

Rites of passage celebrate the social movement of individuals into and out of groups or into or out of statuses of critical importance to the individual and to the community. Reproduction, the achievement of manhood and womanhood, marriage, and death are the principal worldwide occasions for rites of passage.

—Marvin Harris

For them the two years of missionary work, with the rigorous bootcamp-style training preceding it, is a rite of passage between graduation and marriage, adolescence and adult life.

—Malise Ruthven

Today, when each year American society becomes more complex, a veritable tapestry of nationalities, the strongest of our common threads may well be the rites of passage all immigrants face.

—Harold Holzer

The author, grandson of the poet Allen Tate, dropped out of Sewanee University after going through the by-now familiar 1960's rite of passage of drugs, sex, and antiwar demonstrations …

—Caroline Seebohm

compare initiation rite

Examples of rite of passage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The rite of passage is usually done when followers are teenagers. —Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026

The game marks a rite of passage. —Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026

As is practically a rite of passage for fathers, Andrew McCarthy got roasted by his son. —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2026

Danny’s birthday, of course, coincides with the opening of the park and zoo in 1961, which included the Danny the Dragon train, a ride that has been a rite of passage for San Jose kids for a couple of generations now. —Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above