Phrase guide

in passing

prep_phrase · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

prep_phrase

Meaning 1

Incidentally; as a brief diversion from another topic etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We mostly talked about his mother's illness, but he told me in passing that he'd won a small prize in the lottery.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

incidentally; in the course of doing something else

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he made this remark in passing

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: en passant

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: мимоходом (mimohodom) — incidentally
  • Catalan: al vol — incidentally
  • Catalan: de passada — incidentally
  • Chinese Mandarin: 順便 /顺便 (shùnbiàn) — incidentally
  • Dutch: in het voorbijgaan — incidentally
  • Dutch: en passant — incidentally
  • Dutch: terloops — incidentally
  • Finnish: ohimennen — incidentally
  • French: en passant — incidentally
  • German: beiläufig — incidentally
  • German: nebenbei — incidentally
  • German: zwischen Tür und Angel — incidentally
  • Icelandic: í framhjáhlaupi — incidentally
  • Latin: obiter — incidentally
  • Portuguese: de passagem — incidentally
  • Russian: мимохо́дом (mimoxódom) — incidentally
  • Russian: вскользь (vskolʹzʹ) — incidentally
  • Russian: ме́жду про́чим (méždu próčim) — incidentally
  • Spanish: de pasada — incidentally
  • Spanish: de paso — incidentally
  • Swedish: i förbifarten — incidentally
  • Yiddish: אַגבֿ־אורחא (agev-urkhe) — incidentally