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 Magic Gardens are a rite of passage for any first-time visitor to the City of Brotherly Love, and a fixture of the South Street streetscape. —Joe Brandt, CBS News, 19 Feb. 2026

Though events like last weekend’s are rare, Birkdale Village has been both an upscale shopping destination and a teenage rite of passage since opening in 2003, according to Huntersville Police Chief Brian Vaughan, who has been with the department for 25 years. —Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 19 Feb. 2026

Until recently a successful solo lion hunt was a rite of passage for Maasai boys. —Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026

The American dream has always included car ownership as a rite of passage. —Lyssanoel Frater, IndyStar, 17 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above