rites of passage

Cultural  

1. Ceremonies that mark important transitional periods in a person's life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death. Rites of passage usually involve ritual activities and teachings designed to strip individuals of their original roles and prepare them for new roles. The traditional American wedding ceremony is such a rite of passage. In many so-called primitive societies, some of the most complex rites of passage occur at puberty, when boys and girls are initiated into the adult world. In some ceremonies, the initiates are removed from their village and may undergo physical mutilation before returning as adults.

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Rites of passage generally affirm community solidarity, especially in times of change or crisis.

Example Sentences

A humiliating incident in a pool surrounded by her repulsed classmates echoes an iconic scene from “Carrie,” with Ducournau crafting an analogy for traumatic adolescent rites of passage like menstruation.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

For Californians, crossing the fabled Donner Pass and descending to Lake Tahoe is one of those essential rites of passage.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

Hers are the films they’ll watch over and over in their rooms — rites of passage, as important as any Joan Didion essay or Sylvia Plath poem, that have transcended generations.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 31, 2023

As she gets older, she realises she missed out on a typical American teenager's rites of passage.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2023

“Some consider the temple’s rites of passage to be the most difficult in all Eshōza. Of course, I didn’t find them too challenging...”

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray