Phrase guide

vice versa

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • vī′sē vûr′sə
  • vī′sə-
  • vīs′-
  • UK: /ˈvaɪsɪ ˈvɜːsə/
  • UK: /ˈvaɪsə-/
  • UK: /vaɪs-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈvaɪsi ˈvɝsə/
  • US: /ˈvaɪsə-/
  • US: /vaɪs-/

1

adv

Meaning 1

The same but with the two items mentioned reversed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: generally after and or or

Examples

  • Since there are two contestants left in the race, either Bob will come first place and Alice second place, or vice versa.
  • The most loved scholar of the university wrote a memorable diary to his students, and vice versa, the students wrote to him.
  • I’m going to give her a diamond necklace for her birthday, and vice versa, she’s going to get me a Premium Pass for FIFA 24 for mine.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

with the order reversed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she hates him and vice versa

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: the other way around, contrariwise

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ablative absolute vice versā (“the position having been reversed”), from feminine third declension noun vicis (“arrangement, order, position”) + feminine ablative singular of perfect passive participle versus, from vertō (“to turn, to reverse”).

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: الْعَكْس بِالْعَكْس (al-ʕaks bi-l-ʕaks) — the other way round
  • Arabic: الْعَكْس صَحِيح (al-ʕaks ṣaḥīḥ) — the other way round
  • Azerbaijani: əksinə — the other way round
  • Bashkir: киреһенсә (kirehensə) — the other way round
  • Belarusian: наадваро́т (naadvarót) — the other way round
  • Bulgarian: обра́тно (obrátno) — the other way round
  • Catalan: viceversa — the other way round
  • Chinese Mandarin: 反之亦然 (fǎnzhīyìrán) — the other way round
  • Czech: naopak — the other way round
  • Danish: vice versa — the other way round
  • Danish: omvendt — the other way round
  • Dutch: vice versa — the other way round
  • Dutch: omgekeerd — the other way round
  • Esperanto: inverse — the other way round
  • Esperanto: la ordo kontraŭa — the other way round
  • Estonian: vastupidi — the other way round
  • Estonian: ümberpöördult — the other way round
  • Finnish: päinvastoin — the other way round
  • Finnish: toisinpäin — the other way round
  • Finnish: toistepäin — the other way round
  • French: vice versa — the other way round
  • French: réciproquement — the other way round
  • Galician: viceversa — the other way round
  • Georgian: პირიქით (ṗirikit) — the other way round
  • German: umgekehrt — the other way round
  • German: andersherum — the other way round
  • German: andersrum — the other way round
  • German: und umgekehrt — the other way round
  • German: und umgedreht — the other way round
  • German: vice versa — the other way round
  • Hindi: विलोमतः (vilomtaḥ) — the other way round
  • Hungarian: fordítva — the other way round
  • Ido: permutite — the other way round
  • Indonesian: juga sebaliknya — the other way round
  • Interlingua: vice versa — the other way round
  • Italian: viceversa — the other way round
  • Japanese: 逆に (gyaku ni) — the other way round
  • Japanese: 反対に (hantai ni) — the other way round
  • Latin: vice versa — the other way round
  • Macedonian: обратно (obratno) — the other way round
  • Malay: sebaliknya — the other way round
  • Old English: þweorlīce — the other way round
  • Persian: برعکس (bar'aks) — the other way round
  • Persian: بالعکس (bel'aks) — the other way round
  • Persian: برخلاف (barxalâf) — the other way round
  • Polish: odwrotnie — the other way round
  • Polish: na odwrót — the other way round
  • Polish: vice versa — the other way round
  • Portuguese: vice versa — the other way round
  • Portuguese: vice-versa — the other way round
  • Romanian: vice versa — the other way round
  • Russian: наоборо́т (naoborót) — the other way round
  • Slovak: naopak — the other way round
  • Spanish: viceversa — the other way round
  • Spanish: contrariamente — the other way round
  • Swedish: vice versa — the other way round
  • Tamil: நேர்மாறாக (nērmāṟāka) — the other way round
  • Turkish: tam tersi — the other way round
  • Ukrainian: навпаки́ (navpaký) — the other way round
  • Urdu: اس کے برعکس (us ke bar'aks) — the other way round
  • Urdu: اس کے برخلاف (īs key barḵelāf) — the other way round
  • Vietnamese: ngược lại — the other way round