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:
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
Adding seat-back entertainment is a reversal for an airline that, less than a decade ago, was ripping screens off its planes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The exquisite comic reversal of the Turkey episode was that, this time, he was no longer directing the tableau.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Scientists still do not know what caused the reversal.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
In a determined reversal of her inherent nature, Kochu Maria now, as a policy, hardly ever believed anything that anybody said.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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
Obviously, that is no more than an average long-term trend, with innumerable shifts in either direction: 1,000 amalgamations for 999 reversals.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
