about face
interjection
(used as a military command to perform an about-face.)
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about face
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about-face
about-facenouna turn of 180° from the position of attention.
about face
1 Americaninterjection
about-face
2
American
[uh-bout-feys, uh-bout-feys, uh-bout-feys]
/ əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs, əˈbaʊtˈfeɪs, əˌbaʊtˈfeɪs /
noun
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Military. a turn of 180° from the position of attention.
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a complete, sudden change in position, direction, principle, attitude, etc..
They've done an about-face in their foreign policy.
verb (used without object)
about-faced,
about-facing
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to execute an about face.
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to turn in the opposite direction.
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to switch to an opposite opinion.
Etymology
Origin of about face1
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
Origin of about-face2
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
Explanation
An about-face is a turn in the opposite direction. If you're halfway to school when you realize you forgot your lunch, you may have enough time to make an about-face, run home, and grab it. A literal about-face, when you pivot your body to face 180 degrees away from where you started, has a military origin. About-face is a drill command that's given to a group of marching soldiers, who must turn in a smooth, synchronized way to face the opposite direction. Figuratively, an about-face can be an abrupt change of belief, opinion, or practice — like your friend whose diet leans heavily on fast-food hamburgers until he does an about-face and becomes a vegetarian.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At his friends’ urging, he started a company, Allan Palmer Laboratories, and began marketing a shaving cream, called About-Face, and an anti-aging moisturizing lotion, called About-Time.
From Washington Post • Oct. 5, 2016
Instagram Does an About-Face on Policy In the aftermath of an uproar over changes to its privacy policy and terms-of-service update earlier this week, Instagram did an about-face late Thursday.
From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2012
About-Face Williamson County, Texas, reversed itself and agreed to grant tax incentives to Apple Computer in exchange for the firms commitment to build a facility in the county.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
