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

Silver There was a time when owning silver was a rite of passage and, while its panache has decreased in recent year, there's still inherent value in this precious metal. —Heather Bien, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2025

In just the past decade, late-night shows’ bookings—a reliable rite of passage for musical artists on the edge of a breakthrough—have dropped significantly, to barely 200 performances in 2023. —Jonathan Garrett, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2025

Kieffer says exploring the cape is a necessity while visiting, and making your way to the top is a bit of a Pacific City rite of passage. —Molly Allen, Travel + Leisure, 28 Oct. 2025

The iconic Aerial Tram is the gateway to some of the most famous and feared terrain in the world, including the Crags, the Hobacks, and the infamous Corbet’s Couloir, a rite of passage for every expert skier. —Charles Curkin, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above