Word.ws English Dictionary

passes muster

passes muster is the third-person singular simple present indicative of pass muster.

Meaning of pass muster

Verb

pass muster (third-person singular simple present passes muster, present participle passing muster, simple past and past participle passed muster)

  1. (idiomatic) To meet or exceed a particular standard.
    • To get a raise, an employee must pass muster with the boss.
  2. (idiomatic) To adequately pass a formal or informal inspection.
    • So while speaking directly to a celebrated stranger may not be possible without first passing muster with a squad of handlers and publicists, you can do the next best thing: dial the famous person's last listed phone number and talk to the lucky, star-dusted citizen who inherited it.1990 June, Max Carter, “Yoko Ono, Phone Home”, in Spy

Questions about passes muster

What is passes muster the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Passes muster is the third-person singular simple present indicative of pass muster.

Words near passes muster in the dictionary

  1. passes for
  2. passes gas
  3. passes in one's checks
  4. passes judgment
  5. passes motion
  6. passes muster
  7. passes off
  8. passes off as
  9. passes on
  10. passes one's word
  11. passes oneself off as

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: passes muster (page history and authors); pass muster (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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