passing means that passes away; ephemeral. It carries an Arena rating of 1458, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, passing ranks #1,713 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,401 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,601 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,417 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
passing is pronounced /ˈpɑːsɪŋ/.
Why “passing” is a great word
Describing something that endures only for a brief moment or exists in an extreme, surpassing degree. From the verb pass (from Old French passer, from Latin passus, 'step, pace') + the suffix -ing, forming a present participle used as an adjective. Unlike “permanent,” which anchors itself in the enduring, or “thorough,” which insists on careful completeness, “passing” is the adjective of impermanence itself. It is the shadow of a hawk crossing a field, the flicker of acute understanding that vanishes before it can be spoken, or the supreme beauty of a face glimpsed once and never again—each a brief surpassing that exists most vividly in the instant of its vanishing, the quiet truth that the most profound things are often those we are given only the briefest time to hold.
Etymology
From pass + -ing.
adj
- That passes away; ephemeral.e.g.“And solace sought he none from priest nor leech, / And soon the same in movement and in speech / As heretofore he fill'd the passing hours […]” — 1814, Lord Byron, Lara, I.15:
- Pre-eminent, excellent, extreme.e.g.“her passing deformity” — c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]
- Vague, cursory.e.g.“to make a passing comment”
- Going past.e.g.“passing cars”
- That passes in any sense.e.g.“a passing transsexual”
adv
- Surpassingly, greatly.e.g.“[...] for she was called a fair lady, and a passing wise, and her name was called Igraine.” — 1485 July 7, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter I, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur, volume 1:
noun
- Death, dying; the end of something.
- The fact of going past; a movement from one place to another or a change from one state to another.e.g.“And since he did not see Louie by the folding door, Louie knew that in his former passings and repassings he could not have seen her either.” — 1913, Oliver Onions, The Story of Louie:
- The act of approving a bill etc.
- The act of passing a ball etc. to another player.
- A form of juggling where several people pass props between each other, usually clubs or rings.
- The ability of a person to be regarded as a member of an identity group or category different from their own.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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