as in palming off
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 passing off
Eleanor ends up passing off the story of Bessie surviving a concentration camp in Poland as her own.
—
Dina Kaur, AZCentral.com, 25 Sep. 2025
The indictment also accused him of intentionally submitting checks drawn on insufficient funds and allegedly passing off another person’s Internet Movie Database Page as his own to convince one victim of his industry bona fides.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Dina Kaur, AZCentral.com, 25 Sep. 2025
The indictment also accused him of intentionally submitting checks drawn on insufficient funds and allegedly passing off another person’s Internet Movie Database Page as his own to convince one victim of his industry bona fides.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passing off
Verb
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There was no such list, it was announced, and Epstein definitely committed suicide and wasn’t, as the conspiracy-minded suggest, murdered by those wishing to silence him.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
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For more information or those wishing to decorate a trunk for the event, should call Patti at 714-974-2053 to register.—
Sharon Hlapcich,
Oc Register,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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He was sent to the Soledad prison in 2015, and was serving a 14-year sentence for false imprisonment and inflicting a physical injury on another person.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
15 Oct. 2025
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Running back Bijan Robinson had a career performance as the Atlanta Falcons toppled Josh Allen and the Bills 24-14 on Monday Night Football, inflicting a second straight defeat on Buffalo.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The full-beam bow and superstructure give the yacht a bold and imposing profile while increasing onboard comfort.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
14 Oct. 2025
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These imposing machines are powered by 600-hp diesel engines, and feature a hydraulic load-handling system that can quickly load and unload 20-ft (6-m) containers and flat-rack engineering mission modules (for building or repairing bridges, for example).—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Passing off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passing%20off. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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