laissez-passer

/ˌlɛseɪ ˈpɑːseɪ/

noun

A pass or permit; a document permitting the bearer to travel, sometimes issued as an emergency passport.

OriginFrench laissez-passer →
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Meanings

nounlaissez-passer (plural laissez-passers)

plural laissez-passers

  1. A pass or permit; a document permitting the bearer to travel, sometimes issued as an emergency passport.

    ‘Find the British Consul, and Jane can claim she lost her money and passport. He'll issue her with some kind of laissez-passer.’

    2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 385

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
travel document

Origin

  1. Frenchlaissez-passer
  2. Frenchlaissez-passer
  3. Englishlaissez-passer

Borrowed from French laissez-passer.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

laissez-passer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laissez-passer

MLA

“laissez-passer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laissez-passer. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “laissez-passer,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/laissez-passer.

Source: laissez-passer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.