fob off

verb

Definition of fob offnext
as in to wish
to offer (something fake, useless, or inferior) as genuine, useful, or valuable people who try to fob off to charities broken-down furniture that is fit only for the junkyard

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fob off Your potential clients are terrified of being sold the dream then fobbed off to a junior team member. — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025 Not only does Israel not have spare luxury jets lying around to fob off on the American president, but the country took nine years to retrofit and launch its own version of Air Force One, and the process was a national fiasco. — Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025 But despite previous transparency around the cost-cutting measures, employees inquiring about how the budget cuts have impacted their performance review will now be fobbed off. — Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2023 Most chose instead to fob off the hard decisions to central bankers. — William Pesek, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fob off
  1. wish
  2. pass off
  3. inflict
  4. impose
  5. palm off
  6. palm
Verb
  • People who want to avoid long lines and those who might not have time to go to their polling location on Election Day may wish to take advantage of early voting.
    — TIME Staff, Time, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Despite the claims of any number of charlatans who prey on the American brand of cuddly benighted ignorance, the universe will not manifest an alternate reality for anyone who simply wishes for it with sufficient longing.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of wish
Verb
  • Both parents died before Mears was three, and he was passed off among relatives who didn’t want to care for him.
    — Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Jadyn Glasser completed 13 of 15 passes off the bench for 88 yards for Central Michigan (2-2).
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of pass off
Verb
  • Of the tens of thousands of casualties Russia suffers each month, up to 90% are inflicted by drones.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Although inflicting pain globally, the energy crisis is biting particularly hard in the rural expanses and communities of the European Union’s largest country by area.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of inflict
Verb
  • Nighttime curfews were also imposed in parts of Altai and in Baikalsk, in the Irkutsk region.
    — Arina Porkhovnik, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Trade tensions between the EU and China have grown in recent months, with both sides imposing or considering curbs on each other’s imports.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of impose
Verb
  • France took the lead with a solo try from Ntamack, who ran down the short side from about 22-meters out, dummied, palmed off a defender and crashed over in a tackle in the 52nd, and conversion from skipper Maxime Lucu.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 July 2026
  • Lift your right palm off the ground and cross your torso to tap your left shoulder, then return your right hand to the ground.
    — Jenessa Connor, Health, 28 May 2026
Definition of palm off
Verb
  • For the final punchline, Bounou shuffled right, stood upright, and palmed away Crysencio Summerville’s effort.
    — Stuart James, New York Times, 7 July 2026
  • Al-Amri, who had a shot denied by Uruguay's Fernando Muslera earlier in the first half, put his squad ahead with a quick tap-in after Muslera palmed away a header.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 15 June 2026
Definition of palm

Browse Nearby Words

fobbing off
fob off
fobs off
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fob off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fob%20off. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All