pas

American  

[pah] / pɑ /

noun

plural

pas

1. a step or series of steps in ballet.

2. right of precedence.

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pas ¹ British  

/ pɑ, pɑː /

noun

1. a dance step or movement, esp in ballet

2. rare the right to precede; precedence

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PA's ² British  

plural noun

1. mountaineering a type of rock boot

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PAS ³ British  

abbreviation

1. physician-assisted suicide: a practice in which a terminally-ill person requests a medical practitioner to administer a lethal dose of medication

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Etymology

Origin of pas

1695–1705; < French < Latin passus. See pace ¹

Example Sentences

When a nameless secretary drops a sheaf of papers, Kornev’s response to help is instinctive, yet we cringe at the careless faux pas he commits in this unfeeling society.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

On this week’s Slate Plus exclusive, Timothée Chalamet enters the pas de deux between an Oscar-nominated actor and a public itching for a villain.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

Steve Carell’s character in the likable, watchable and even lovable “Rooster” is classic Steve Carell: Self-aware, charming, boyish, incapable of reading a room, sidestepping a faux pas or calculating nuance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

Franks says she will never regret her time at Cambridge, despite the sneers and the cheeseboard faux pas.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026

And one day, in the middle of a ghostly pas de deux—a green silk leading as Desdemona backpedaled—she heard a voice.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides