to pass off
2
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /pæs ɔf/
:
restar importancia a
- "How is she?" He attempted to pass it off as a joke.
I tried to just pass it off like that wasn't bad, but that's not a great smell.
- I tried to just pass it off like that wasn't bad, but that's not a great smell.
Examples
-
You might want to look at Dobson's entire statement before you pass it off as a political expediency.
Blog text (32) -
Sam said some hateful things then, and Dean passed it off.
Blog text (30) -
Tonight she was drunk enough that she passed it off with a solemn shake of her head.
Fiction book (1991) -
Carl passed off the compliment and continued to listen.
Blog text (8) -
Do not pass off your playing the lottery and losing as something worthy of emulation.
Blog text (11) -
"Ian spoke with the cocky grin that allowed him to say terrible things and pass them off as jokes."
Fiction book (1996) -
He tries to pass it all off with a calm demeanor, but anyone can see that he is totally freaked.
Blog text (7) -
Europeans are rightly skeptical of their leaders and are as likely to reject any attempt to pass off the hard decisions that have to be taken as their own making or choice.
Blog text (18) -
I wasn't passing it off as political expediency—in fact, I was saying it's exactly the opposite.
Blog text (32) -
She tried to pass off the harsh criticism as a misunderstanding.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Choose not to pay attention to someone or something
59
5.3
Show something as less important or serious than it is
59
4.6
To say someone or something is not worth taking seriously without careful thought
45
5.0
To make someone or something seem not important
28
4.1
To ignore someone or something on purpose
27
3.9
Treat something as unimportant and ignore it
22
3.9
To ignore what someone says or feels as unimportant
22
4.2
To treat something as not important or serious
21
6.7
To treat something as silly and show no respect
20
4.2
To make a joke about something embarrassing to show it is not important
16
4.3
To make something seem less important than it really is
13
4.5
Ignore a person or thing because you think they are not important
5
9.5
To treat an idea or opinion as unimportant and not worth taking seriously
5
7.3
To treat someone or something without proper respect
3
4.2
Treat a problem or criticism as not important by joking about it
3
4.7
To ignore an opinion or worry as unimportant
2
5.9
Treat something as unimportant and ignore it
1
8.4
Say or do things that make someone seem less respected
To deal with a subject quickly and without enough detail
Antonyms
How Serious
∞
3.6
608
3.1
332
3.0
2
4.1
- Informal
22
3.9
- Informal
3
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
pass + off
The particle verb 'pass off' conveys a sense of moving something 'off' or away from importance, which gives learners a partial clue from the constituents ('pass' = move/transfer, 'off' = away). However, the specific pragmatic sense of treating something as unimportant or presenting it falsely is idiomatic and not fully predictable from the literal meanings, so a B1 learner who only knows the base words may not reliably infer the exact meaning.
Etymology
Pass off paints the picture of moving a remark to one side as if it does not matter, like brushing it away. So it means 'to treat something, such as criticism, as unimportant'.