as in inflicted
to offer (something fake, useless, or inferior) as genuine, useful, or valuable
the con man tried to pass off a piece of blue glass as a sapphire
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Recent Examples of passed off
To diVittorio, the minimum lot sizes are too big — and therefore expensive; setbacks from streets are too broad, eating up buildable land; and sidewalk requirements are too costly, getting passed off to consumers.
—
Mark Dee
march 12, Idaho Statesman, 12 Mar. 2026
Earlier in the week, an Indian university was reportedly asked to leave the summit after a staff member passed off a robotic dog developed by Chinese company Unitree as one the university had developed.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
And even Lachlan, who shares his father’s paleo-conservative worldview and was therefore granted control of Fox News, ultimately had to accept that much of the Murdoch empire had been sold out from under him when Rupert passed off 20th Century Fox to Disney for $71 billion in 2019.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 18 Feb. 2026
The tie ultimately passed off without much incident.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
After Wembanyama converted an and-one fast-break lob from Stephon Castle, Mazzulla lifted Walsh and passed off that matchup to Baylor Scheierman.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 11 Jan. 2026
Winter can be hard, but the belief that everyone is sadder during the season may simply be folklore passed off as fact.
—Rafaela Jinich, The Atlantic, 1 Jan. 2026
Perez said at a Sunday night press conference that authorities identified the man via a tip — which the police chief said was passed off to the FBI — but the evidence obtained was ultimately insufficient to keep him.
—Max Rego, The Hill, 17 Dec. 2025
Throughout the case, Carnival’ attorneys maintained the cruise line wasn’t at fault and passed off blame to Rondon.
—Vinod Sreeharsha
september 22, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
Mark Dee
march 12, Idaho Statesman, 12 Mar. 2026
Earlier in the week, an Indian university was reportedly asked to leave the summit after a staff member passed off a robotic dog developed by Chinese company Unitree as one the university had developed.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
And even Lachlan, who shares his father’s paleo-conservative worldview and was therefore granted control of Fox News, ultimately had to accept that much of the Murdoch empire had been sold out from under him when Rupert passed off 20th Century Fox to Disney for $71 billion in 2019.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 18 Feb. 2026
The tie ultimately passed off without much incident.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
After Wembanyama converted an and-one fast-break lob from Stephon Castle, Mazzulla lifted Walsh and passed off that matchup to Baylor Scheierman.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 11 Jan. 2026
Winter can be hard, but the belief that everyone is sadder during the season may simply be folklore passed off as fact.
—Rafaela Jinich, The Atlantic, 1 Jan. 2026
Perez said at a Sunday night press conference that authorities identified the man via a tip — which the police chief said was passed off to the FBI — but the evidence obtained was ultimately insufficient to keep him.
—Max Rego, The Hill, 17 Dec. 2025
Throughout the case, Carnival’ attorneys maintained the cruise line wasn’t at fault and passed off blame to Rondon.
—Vinod Sreeharsha
september 22, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passed off
Verb
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Centene grew revenue almost 20% last year amid drastic cuts to federal Medicaid spending that have inflicted pain on the bottom line and customers.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
25 Mar. 2026
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Lamarck, who in later life would often express his feelings of grievance against the injustices his colleagues inflicted on him, also had a quick and keen sense of obligation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The difference between a real deadline, imposed for legitimate reasons from without, and a fake one, conjured from within, is like the difference between eating brunch and seeing it on Instagram.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
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Malawi and Zimbabwe have recently imposed similar restrictions too, Reuters reported.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Daniel Radcliffe, the original Harry Potter in the movies, has given his blessing to the series and wished McLaughlin well in taking over the role.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
24 Mar. 2026
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In January, the HHS X account wished Kennedy a happy birthday by posting a photo of him cutting into a steak adorned with birthday candles.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
Cite this Entry
“Passed off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passed%20off. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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