as in wishes
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
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 passes off
If Clark does manage to get passes off, USC’s lockdown secondary has the chance to live up to the hype.
—
Haley Sawyer, Oc Register, 29 Aug. 2025
Haley Sawyer, Oc Register, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passes off
Verb
-
What Hicks longs to do, in the face of these multidirectional threats to life and liberty, is persuade April to run away with him, hitchhiking from Wisconsin to who knows where, like a pair of Depression-era hoboes, out of range of anyone who wishes them ill.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
De Souza, a journalist in Philadelphia, now wishes that class had included the basics of fertility and reproduction.—
Olga Khazan,
The Atlantic,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Some believe that their case would be stronger only if the FCC actually imposes fines or, in a very rare action, moves to pull a license.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
19 Sep. 2025
-
The Council also imposes strict recordkeeping requirements.—
Alonzo Martinez,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
But using the criminal law to punish political opponents as retribution inflicts far greater damage.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
21 Sep. 2025
-
But Venugopal points out that the lab study couldn’t capture the onslaught of enzymes, teeth gritting, and temperature variation that a real human mouth inflicts.—
Zoë Schlanger,
The Atlantic,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Passes off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passes%20off. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share