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:
It’s a reversal of fortune from a quarter-century ago, when media giants, including Rupert Murdoch’s Fox, recognized there were huge profits to be made by launching regional sports networks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
That rapid reversal argues against the idea that maternal age effects are primarily caused by the gradual buildup of cellular damage or DNA mutations associated with aging, as many researchers had previously suspected.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Department of Agriculture said it would open the roadless-rule reversal to public comments until Sept. 21 before making the proposal official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Its reversal suggests the carrier is trying to stay competitive and consistent, betting that more reliable onboard amenities will help it win customers while still appealing to budget-conscious travellers.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Embedded in the history of the gene is “the quest for eternal youth, the Faustian myth of abrupt reversal of fortune, and our own century’s flirtation with the perfectibility of man.”
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
NDR also highlighted one of the market’s biggest reversals this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
You do know reversals are expensive and aren't always successful?
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Bringing the constraints of cultural anthropology back into biomolecular analysis allows other reversals to emerge.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
Surging stocks can be vulnerable to sharp reversals, and crucial pillars of support for the rally remain in place, some analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 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.
