pass off

British  

verb

1. to be or cause to be accepted or circulated in a false character or identity

   he passed the fake diamonds off as real

2. (intr) to come to a gradual end; disappear

   eventually the pain passed off

3. to emit (a substance) as a gas or vapour, or (of a substance) to be emitted in this way

4. (intr) to take place

   the meeting passed off without disturbance

5. (tr) to set aside or disregard

   I managed to pass off his insult

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pass off Idioms  

1. Misrepresent something or someone, as in They tried to pass off that piece of glass as a gemstone , or Bill passed her off as his sister . [Late 1700s] Also see palm off .

2. Be completed or carried out, take place, as in The meeting passed off without incident . [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pass off

There are also concerns it could be too easy to circumvent checks in the fledgling initiatives, and pass off AI-produced books as human-written.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

So the test of this state visit will not be how well the ceremonies, speeches and walk-abouts pass off.

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026

“But, especially in places like math and coding, you can pass off the output of LLMs to, or direct the LLMs with, other technologies that had lost favor but actually are very useful.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

The majority of students — 80% — say they would not use AI to submit classwork to pass off as their own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

His hand jumped to it: He saw Hermione’s eyes narrow, and he tried to pass off the movement by brushing his hair out of his eyes.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

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