- 1lasting only for a short period of time and then disappearing synonym brief a passing phase/thought/interest He makes only a passing reference to the theory in his book (= it is not the main subject of his book). She bears more than a passing resemblance to (= looks very like) your sister.
- 2going past I love him more with each passing day. the noise of passing cars I was forced to ask passing strangers for money.
- 3passing grade a grade/mark that achieves the required standard in an exam, a test, etc.
Check pronunciation: passing