pass away

verb

passed away; passing away; passes away
Synonyms of pass awaynext

intransitive verb

1
: to go out of existence
2
: die sense 1

Synonyms of pass away

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of pass away in a Sentence

the old woman passed away quietly
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
About one year after this event, Nancy passed away at the age of 93. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 29 Aug. 2026 The iconic singer and philanthropist passed away Tuesday at the age of 80. — The Npr Network, NPR, 29 Aug. 2026 Other listings include experts who passed away before the IBI was founded, such as Shlomo Avineri and Jiang Ping. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 On Tuesday the legendary and beloved music icon Dolly Parton passed away. — Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pass away

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pass away was in the 14th century

Rhymes for pass away

See All Rhymes for pass away

Browse Nearby Words

pas sauté
pass away
passback
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pass away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pass%20away. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

pass away

verb
: die entry 1 sense 1
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All