Passade

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A pass or thrust.
  2. 2
    A turn or course of a horse backward or forward on the same spot of ground.
  3. 3
    A brief romantic or sexual relationship; a fling. dated

    "He was fairly sure that if he had acted first he could have enjoyed more kisses, and who knows what might have followed? "The flesh is weak, the heart is susceptible..." Edith was a passionate woman, and Bland was conveniently absent on business in the north of England. But on reflection he was relieved that he had not taken the opportunity to initiate a passade with her. His reasons were ungallant. […] When he imagined making love to her naked on a bed the picture he summoned up was faintly ludicrous. So it was well that nothing irrevocable had been said or done between them in the summerhouse, and he could maintain an innocent friendly relationship with her."

Example

More examples

"He was fairly sure that if he had acted first he could have enjoyed more kisses, and who knows what might have followed? "The flesh is weak, the heart is susceptible..." Edith was a passionate woman, and Bland was conveniently absent on business in the north of England. But on reflection he was relieved that he had not taken the opportunity to initiate a passade with her. His reasons were ungallant. […] When he imagined making love to her naked on a bed the picture he summoned up was faintly ludicrous. So it was well that nothing irrevocable had been said or done between them in the summerhouse, and he could maintain an innocent friendly relationship with her."

Etymology

French passade.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.