passes off

present tense third-person singular of pass off
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

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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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passes off
Verb
  • As a parent, Cash wishes that the dialogue between state legislators and educators was more open.
    IndyStar, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Nicola ended her emotional message by sending birthday wishes to her brother in heaven.
    Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 30 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Guns rights advocates — including politically powerful groups such as the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America — vowed to fight any proposal that imposes a blanket gun ban targeting a segment of the population.
    Alanna Durkin Richer, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2025
  • At that wavelength, optics imposes a hard requirement.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • Corporate crime and wrongdoing—pollution, dangerous products, financial fraud and scams, unsafe workplaces, and more—inflicts far more damage on people than street crime, whether measured by dollars, injuries, or lives.
    Robert Weissman, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Passes off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passes%20off. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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