Volte-face

//vɒltˈfæs// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A reversal of attitude, policy, or principle.

    "Psychoanalysis has sprung many surprises on us, performed more than one volte face before our indignant eyes."

  2. 2
    a major change in attitude or principle or point of view wordnet
  3. 3
    A dramatic change in mood or tone.

    "Shakespeare often used volte-faces in the rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets."

Synonyms

All synonyms
about-faceabout faceafterthoughtalchemyassimilationassumption

Example

More examples

"There was a complete volte-face on taxes that occurred."

Etymology

Borrowed from French volte-face.

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