: 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
Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 22 Apr. 2024
Karen’s passing is a reminder that life is so short and precious and tomorrow is never promised.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for passing 
Noun
His passing was artful, sly, ahead of his teammates.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 22 Apr. 2024
Karen’s passing is a reminder that life is so short and precious and tomorrow is never promised.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 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 3 May. 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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