as in refuses
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
I must pass up the offer to be chairman of this event
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Recent Examples of passes up
And because Amazon never passes up an opportunity to throw a good sale, members just got extra lucky.
—
Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2026
McVay passes up the field goal and Stanford throws incomplete again.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2026
McVay passes up the field goal and Stanford throws incomplete again.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passes up
Verb
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Insurance bad faith claims can stem from different factors, including when an insurance company refuses to settle a claim within policy limits and therefore risks exposing its client to a larger liability at trial.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
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Like the impish anti-romance that crumbles around it, the movie’s twist is both transgressive enough to be pleased with itself and also rooted in a reality that refuses to be dismissed as a bad joke.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Olsson rejects The Athletic’s offer to take cover inside the coffee shop.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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If the council rejects the one-year contract — which would cost $150,000 and provide 50 cameras at a maximum of 20 intersections — Johnston’s administration has said the program will shut down.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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If the tech sector declines, the resulting drawdown can significantly reduce your base for withdrawals—at a point when there may be little time to recover.—
Doug Ashburn,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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As access declines, downstream complications and costs will rise.—
Diego Schaps,
STAT,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Passes up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passes%20up. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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