noun
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the act or an instance of reversing
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a change for the worse; reverse
a reversal of fortune
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the state of being reversed
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the annulment of a judicial decision, esp by an appeal court on grounds of error or irregularity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of reversal
Explanation
A reversal is a change of decision or direction, often to the opposite. You liked history, but thought you'd major in business because there were more jobs. Then you took an economics class and hated it. So in a reversal, you majored in history after all. In legal terms, a reversal is when a high court decides the decision of a lower court is incorrect and should be overturned. In a reversal, the Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict of the lower court, and the prisoner was set free. A setback or a change in circumstances for the worse is also a reversal. If you make poor investments, you may suffer a reversal in fortune and go from shopping for designer clothes to shopping at thrift stores.
Vocabulary lists containing reversal
Novel Study: Of Mice and Men, Chapters 1–3
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Literary Element: The Speech & Analyze Literature
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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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.
See Examples For:
Beginning in 2016, the region experienced substantial losses in sea ice coverage, marking a striking reversal from the preceding decades.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
"Short-term increases in demand for coal as a result of an international supply shock should not be seen as a reversal of this direction," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Fortunes started to change in July, as investors endured a historic reversal in the AI-fueled momentum trade.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
The reversal of fortune prompted network executives to grouse that the Emmys had become a three-hour commercial for streaming services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
We may be going through a reversal now.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
She says reversals are not routinely available on the NHS as there are strict criteria for having one.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
But if you assume that momentum will keep working long term, while you also worry about the occasional reversals, a reversal is a positive, not a negative.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Plus, Republicans are fretting over Trump’s latest policy reversals, and how the World Cup became an unexpected triumph for America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Bringing the constraints of cultural anthropology back into biomolecular analysis allows other reversals to emerge.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
We had won four reversals in death penalty cases in 1990, four more in 1991, and by the end of 1992, we'd won relief for another eight death row prisoners.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
