Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🚫 To decline 🙈 To ignore
to pass up

to pass up

1 4.7
To ignore someone you meet by pretending not to see them
  • phrasal verb
  • /pæs ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : hacerle el vacío a
  • Because popular music plays such an important role in young people's lives, the creative teacher should not pass up the chance to incorporate popular music into a lesson whenever possible.

You can say, well, why might my boss pass me up for a promotion?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • You can say, well, why might my boss pass me up for a promotion?

    Jay Shetty Podcast

  • Deloris: Remember last year when I got passed up for that promotion at the bank?

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Walker passed up his opportunity to question Barrett.

    Blog text (15)

  • And twice he got passed up for a supervisor job due to affirmative action.

  • During the meeting, he felt ignored when the manager seemed to pass up his contribution.

  • At the party, I noticed that she would always pass up her friends when they waved hello.

  • As she walked by, he didn't want to feel hurt if she chose to pass up greeting him.

Synonyms

to ignore
vsto pass up
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

is more specific to a short missed acknowledgment rather than sustained ignoring
to overlook
vsto pass up
243 2.9

To not notice someone or something you should see

is an instant nonacknowledgment typically occurring while passing someone
to look the other way
vsto pass up
69 4.7

To ignore something wrong on purpose instead of reporting it

is a simple missed social acknowledgment rather than avoiding a problem
to turn a blind eye
vsto pass up
41 5.4

Choose to ignore something wrong

is about failing to notice someone briefly, not condoning wrongdoing
to pass over
vsto pass up
28 4.1

To ignore someone or something on purpose

is similar but usually happens as a quick, passing nonacknowledgment
to shrug off
vsto pass up
27 3.9

Treat something as unimportant and ignore it

is a short failure to notice rather than a resilient emotional reaction
to brush off
vsto pass up
  • Informal
22 3.9

To ignore what someone says or feels as unimportant

is a quick failure to acknowledge someone encountered while passing
to pass by
vsto pass up
17 3.0

Go past without being noticed or taken

is a brief failure to acknowledge someone often happening unintentionally
to brush aside
vsto pass up
13 4.5

Ignore a person or thing because you think they are not important

is typically a short, accidental nonacknowledgment rather than a dismissive act
to blank
vsto pass up
  • Informal
7 6.3

To ignore someone or suddenly forget something

is usually a brief missed acknowledgment rather than an active forgetting
to pretend not to notice
vsto pass up
5 5.6

To act as if you do not see something to avoid making someone feel embarrassed

is often unintentional lack of notice rather than a deliberate pretense
to give someone the brush-off
vsto pass up
  • Informal
2 7.5

To reject someone quickly and rudely

is less harsh, being a simple failure to notice rather than active rejection
to wave off
vsto pass up
  • Informal
2 5.9

Treat something as unimportant and ignore it

is more about not noticing briefly rather than actively rejecting it
to wave aside
vsto pass up
1 6.1

To treat something as not important and ignore it

is a quieter missed acknowledgment rather than an explicit dismissal
to wave one's hand dismissively
vsto pass up
6.7

To move your hand to show you do not care

is a subtler, often accidental failure to acknowledge someone in passing

Antonyms

to acknowledge
286 3.9

To show that you have noticed someone or something

How Acknowledged

to pass by
17 3.0
to pass up
  • Informal
1 4.7
to ignore
∞ 1.0
to snub
7 6.3
to shun
26 4.6

Surface Forms

pass up infinitive
passed up past
passed up past participle
passing up present participle
passes up third person singular

Morphology

pass + up

The sense 'to decline or forgo an opportunity' is built on 'pass' (let go) combined with the particle 'up' to signal letting an opportunity go, so a learner who knows 'pass' would often infer the general idea. However, as a phrasal verb the exact pragmatic meaning ('decline' vs. simply 'let go') and the use pattern are somewhat conventional and particle behavior varies cross-linguistically, so the meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Pass up comes from the simple picture of someone walking past another person and not looking or stopping — you literally pass them up as you go by. So, it means 'to ignore' or 'not notice' someone.