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:
This raises the possibility that the reversal was temporary or that it forms part of a longer natural cycle within the outer core.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Carlos Mino, 67, joined Thursday's protest to express opposition to the legislation, despite the government's reversal.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Detroit has seen three consecutive years of population growth after six decades of decline, a reversal Guinn attributed to young professionals moving to the greater downtown area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the comedy world, Jeselnik has become legendary for his razor-edged one-liners, each joke ending with a dark reversal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“The age reversal doesn’t work on adults,” Gary muttered.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
She says reversals are not routinely available on the NHS as there are strict criteria for having one.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
There have been six preceding momentum reversals where the momentum index underperformed the broader index by 10 percentage points or more.
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
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.
