passkeys

Word family

• passkey
  nounC1
• key
  nounA1
• password
  nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

In computing, these three words all let you into an account, but they work very differently. A password is a secret word or phrase that you remember and type, and anyone who learns it can use it. A passcode is usually a short string of numbers, such as the four digits you tap to unlock a phone; it is still a typed secret, just shorter. Passkeys are newer and do not rely on a remembered secret at all: your face, fingerprint, or trusted device proves who you are, so there is nothing for a thief to read over your shoulder or guess. Because of this, banks and large apps now describe passkeys as safer than passwords. Note that passkeys is almost always plural in this sense, while password and passcode are freely used in the singular.

Common collocations

Etymology

Passkeys is the plural of passkey, a compound formed from pass, meaning to go through or get past a barrier, and key, the tool that opens a lock. The word first named a metal key that let staff pass through many locked doors. In the 2020s the technology industry borrowed the same idea for a digital login that lets a user pass into an account without a typed password, giving the old word a fresh modern sense.