passing

Someone or something is moving past a person or place.

• We watched the passing cars.
• A passing stranger helped us.
• The noise of passing trains kept her awake.

Common phrases: passing cars, passing stranger, passing train

A comment or interest is brief or slight, with little attention or detail.

• He made a passing comment about the weather.
• The book contains a passing reference to her work.
• I have only a passing interest in politics.

Similar words: brief, casual, slight

Opposites: detailed, thorough

Common phrases: passing comment, passing reference, passing interest

Something lasts only a short time and soon disappears.

• It was just a passing feeling.
• Her interest in sailing proved a passing fancy.
• The sadness was a passing phase.

Similar words: temporary, brief, fleeting

Opposites: lasting, permanent

Common phrases: passing phase, passing feeling, passing fancy

Someone is seen by others as having the identity they present, such as a particular gender.

• He is a passing trans man.
• A passing trans woman described her experiences at work.
• Being a passing transgender person can affect how strangers treat you.

Common phrases: passing trans man, passing trans woman

Someone’s death, or the ending of something that once existed.

• We mourned her passing.
• His peaceful passing brought the family some comfort.
• The museum marks the passing of an industrial era.

How to use it: the passing of someone/something (They mourned the passing of their oldest friend.)

Similar words: death, end

Opposites: birth

Common phrases: someone’s passing, peaceful passing, passing of something

The movement of something past a place, or a change as time moves forward.

• We watched the passing of the boats.
• The passing of years changed their friendship.
• The festival marks the passing from winter to spring.

How to use it: the passing of something (The passing of time helped her recover.); passing from A to B (The ceremony marks the passing from childhood to adulthood.)

Similar words: passage, transition

Common phrases: passing of time, passing of years, passing of trains

The act of officially approving a proposed law or similar measure.

• The passing of the bill took months.
• She welcomed the passing of the new law.
• Several members opposed the passing of this measure.

How to use it: the passing of something (The passing of the law changed workers’ rights.)

Similar words: passage, approval, enactment

Opposites: rejection

Common phrases: passing a bill, passing of legislation, passing a law

A kind of juggling in which people throw objects to each other.

• We practiced passing with six clubs.
• Their passing routine involved four jugglers.
• Can you teach me club passing?

Common phrases: club passing, practice passing, passing pattern