Meanings
nounbuck-passing (uncountable)
- idiomaticuncountableBlameshifting; the act of absolving oneself of responsibility or concern for a given matter by claiming to lack authority or jurisdiction.
It's from here onwards that the whole web of buck-passing and excuses began.
2020 July 29, Barry Doe, “GWR climbs down... but it took too long to issue refund”, in Rail, page 58Synonyms: blame game
Synonyms & antonyms
nounBlameshifting; the act of absolving oneself of responsibility or concern for a given matter by claiming to lack authority or jurisdiction.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Englishbuck
- Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-
- Proto-Italic*pattus
- Latinpassus
- Vulgar Latin*passāre
- Old Frenchpasser
- Middle Englishpassen
- Englishpass
- Englishpassing
- Englishbuck-passing
Translations
German Schuldzuweisung, Schwarzer Peter
- Schuldzuweisungblame shifting
- Schwarzer Peterblame shifting
Italian scaricabarile, rimpallo di responsabilità
- scaricabarileblame shifting
- rimpallo di responsabilitàblame shifting
Japanese 蜥蜴の尻尾切り, 盥回し
- 蜥蜴の尻尾切り (tokage no shippo giri)blame shifting
- 盥回し (tarai mawashi)blame shifting
- 責任転嫁 (sekinintenka)blame shifting
Norwegian Bokmål pekelek
- pekelekblame shifting
Polish zwalanie odpowiedzialności na innych
- zwalanie odpowiedzialności na innychblame shifting
Tagalog sisihan, pagsisisihan
- sisihanblame shifting
- pagsisisihanblame shifting
Cite this entry
APA
buck-passing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck-passing
MLA
“buck-passing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck-passing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buck-passing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buck-passing.
Source: buck-passing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.