View synonyms for

rite of passage

noun

Anthropology. a ceremony performed to facilitate or mark a person's change of status upon any of several highly important occasions, as at the onset of puberty or upon entry into marriage or into a clan.
any important act or event that serves to mark a passage from one stage of life to another.

rite of passage

/ rit də pɑsaʒ /

noun

a ceremony performed in some cultures at times when an individual changes his status, as at puberty and marriage
a significant event in a transitional period of someone's life

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Word History and Origins

Origin of rite of passage¹

First recorded in 1955–60

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Tens of millions pilgrimage to theme parks each year — consider them a rite of passage, an escape and a way to participate in narrative myths that define the American experience.

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It added that it felt "sadness" for the loss of "a rite of passage for many young visitors".

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It has virtually become an annual rite of passage: Dodgers ownership commits to an obscene dollar amount in contracts followed by the L.A.

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Where Tommy John procedures and major shoulder operations once threatened entire careers, they are now akin to a rite of passage for many big leaguers.

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I love the moment in the film when someone says that every Deaf actress plays Sarah in “Children of a Lesser God;” that it is a “rite of passage.”

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rite of intensification rites of passage

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