Meanings
present singular third person palms off · participle present palming off · participle past palmed off · past palmed off
- idiomaticTo sell or dispose of (something) with the intent to deceive; to attempt to pass off a counterfeit or inferior product as genuine.
[…] the old mangy parcel he sent at Xmas a cottage cake and a bottle of hogwash he tried to palm off as claret that he couldnt^([sic]) get anyone to drink […]
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 18]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC2 more examples
The inveterate liars of the Semi-Weekly Earthquake are evidently endeavoring to palm off upon a noble and chivalrous people another of their vile and brutal falsehoods […]
1871, Mark Twain, Journalism In Tennessee(p.359) […] no one is to be allowed fraudulently to palm off upon the public his goods as those of another. (p.379) It is a fundamental rule that one man has no right to palm off his goods for sale as goods of a rival dealer […]
1963, United States Code AnnotatedSynonyms: pawn off, pass off, foist, fob off, unload, offload
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo sell or dispose of (something) with the intent to deceive; to attempt to pass off a counterfeit or inferior product as genuine.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
“Palming” an object (as in a playing card) is a type of sleight of hand, secretly removing the desired article and leaving only the undesired one.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch opdringen, opzadelen met
- opdringento sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- opzadelen metto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
Finnish panna kiertoon
- panna kiertoonto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
French refourguer, refiler
- refourguerto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- refilerto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
Italian sbolognare
- sbolognareto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
Polish opylać, wciskać
- opylaćto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- wciskaćto sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
Russian всучи́вать, сбыва́ть
- всучи́вать (vsučívatʹ)to sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- сбыва́ть (sbyvátʹ)to sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- подсо́вывать (podsóvyvatʹ)to sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
- сба́гривать (sbágrivatʹ)to sell or dispose of something with the intent to deceive
Cite this entry
palm off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palm%20off
“palm off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palm%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “palm off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palm%20off.
Source: palm off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.