: the act of one that passes or causes to pass
especially
: death sense 1a
1
: going by or past
a passing pedestrian
2
: having a brief duration
a passing whim
3
obsolete
: surpassing
4
: superficial
a passing acquaintance
a passing resemblance
5
a
: of, relating to, or used in or for the act or process of passing
passing lanes
b
: given on satisfactory completion of an examination or course of study
a passing grade
: to a surpassing degree : exceedingly
passing strange
Synonyms
Noun
- curtains
- death
- decease
- demise
- dissolution
- doom
- end
- exit
- expiration
- expiry
- fate
- grave
- great divide
- passage
- quietus
- sleep
Adjective
- brief
- deciduous
- ephemeral
- evanescent
- flash
- fleeting
- fugacious
- fugitive
- impermanent
- momentary
- short-lived
- temporary
- transient
- transitory
Adverb
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- bone
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of passing in a Sentence
Noun
After her husband's passing, she moved to a smaller house.
We all mourned his passing.
Adjective
Someone called out from a passing car.
She sells flowers to passing motorists.
Let's hope that these shoes are just a passing fad.
a passing phase in childhood
Adverb
a passing strange turn of events
Recent Examples on the Web
Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Oct. 2024
By Stephanie McNulty & Sarah Chartock / Made by History
October 10, 2024 3:15 PM EDT
Few newspapers in the U.S. covered in depth the passing of Alberto Fujimori — President of Peru from 1990-2000 — on Sept. 11.
—Stephanie McNulty & Sarah Chartock / Made By History, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
Will McGough, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
According to Tsuchida, who now serves as vice president of Kamakura Shirts New York, MTM sales increased 20-30% with each passing year, eventually surpassing the sales of its shuttered brick-and-mortar.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for passing 
Noun
Throughout the second season, Sunja chose to sacrifice her own dreams of opening up a restaurant to raise her family, particularly following the devastating passing of her husband Isak.
—Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Oct. 2024
By Stephanie McNulty & Sarah Chartock / Made by History
October 10, 2024 3:15 PM EDT
Few newspapers in the U.S. covered in depth the passing of Alberto Fujimori — President of Peru from 1990-2000 — on Sept. 11.
—Stephanie McNulty & Sarah Chartock / Made By History, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
Adjective
The complex, surrounded by chain-link fencing, was frequented by squatters, creating unsafe and unsavory conditions that got worse with every passing year, including broken windows, uncollected garbage, hoards of feral cats, and reports of arson.
—Will McGough, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
According to Tsuchida, who now serves as vice president of Kamakura Shirts New York, MTM sales increased 20-30% with each passing year, eventually surpassing the sales of its shuttered brick-and-mortar.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for passing
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'passing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near passing
Cite this Entry
“Passing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passing. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
passing
1 of 2 noun
pass·ing
ˈpas-iŋ 
1
: the act of one that passes or causes to pass
2
passing
2 of 2 adjective1
: going by or past
the passing crowd
2
: lasting only for a short time
3
: used for the act or process of passing
the passing lane
4
: given on satisfactory completion of an examination or course of study
a passing grade
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