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
Sure enough, a member of the security team snagged the jersey, and it was passed off to a man who admired the jersey sitting in the ride behind Leo.
—
CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
The original movie was passed off as a documentary on death, but paired mostly staged violence with real footage taken at murder scenes and accident sites, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
—Ralphie Aversa, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
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
CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026
The original movie was passed off as a documentary on death, but paired mostly staged violence with real footage taken at murder scenes and accident sites, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
—Ralphie Aversa, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passed off
Verb
-
The standoff at the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the US — Baghdad’s two dominant external power brokers — has already inflicted serious damage on Iraq.—
Alaa Shahine Salha,
semafor.com,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Agustín, an elderly man who lived on the streets and had mental health problems, died in February from burns inflicted by an 18-year-old who was later arrested.—
Sarah Moreno
Updated April 29,
Miami Herald,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Davis was sentenced Thursday by Lake County Judge Christopher Lombardo, who imposed a 42-year sentence for murder plus a 25-year enhancement for the use of a firearm.—
Clifford Ward,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have hiked prices and imposed rate limits to manage surging demand.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The fund allowed guests who wished to give the couple a gift the opportunity to donate to select charities instead.—
Helen Murphy,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
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Commenting on today’s permanent closure announcement, a host of Zurich peers shared their condolences with Zollinger and wished him well in his future ventures.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
While other firms have trimmed entry-level hiring as AI takes over the admin tasks normally palmed off to younger workers, EY is actively investing in early-career talent.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
1 Apr. 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 2 May. 2026.
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