noun
Meaning 1
A reversal of attitude, policy, or principle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: about-face, U-turn
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
volte-face
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.
-
/vɒltˈfæs/
-
/-ˈfɑːs/
-
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
rhymes with -æs
noun
Meaning 2
A dramatic change in mood or tone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing
Examples
- Shakespeare often used volte-faces in the rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
a major change in attitude or principle or point of view
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- an about-face on foreign policy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: about-face, reversal, policy change
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: change
Narrower terms: undoing
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French volte-face.
Across languages
Translations
23 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: կտրուկ շրջադարձ (ktruk šrǰadarj) — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Chinese Mandarin: 变卦 (biàn guà) — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Czech: obrat o 180 stupňů — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Danish: kovending — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Dutch: draai — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Dutch: volte-face — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Finnish: takinkääntö — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- French: volte-face — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- French: demi-tour — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- French: marche arrière — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- French: revirement — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- German: Kehrtwende — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Italian: voltafaccia — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Italian: voltagabbana — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Italian: traditore — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Italian: banderuola — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Italian: voltacasacca — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Polish: zwrot o 180 stopni — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Portuguese: reviravolta — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Russian: круто́й поворо́т (krutój povorót) — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Russian: резкая переме́на (rezkaja pereména) — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Spanish: media vuelta — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle
- Vietnamese: trở mặt — reversal of attitude, policy, or principle