switcheroo
Americannoun
plural
switcheroosnoun
Etymology
Origin of switcheroo
Explanation
A switcheroo is a surprising change or reversal. If your mom replaced the cookies in a cookie jar with plums, your dad might say, "She pulled the old switcheroo!" Most often, a switcheroo is a joke or trick — a magician might appear to change your ten-dollar bill into a feather, and you could call this a switcheroo. Another kind of switcheroo is simply an abrupt change of direction, like a sudden switcheroo in a movie's plot that leaves you totally confused. Switcheroo was first used, in an informal and joking way, in 1933.
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.
No. This was in no way like the New York City-Paris switcheroo from the 1992 film “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026
And hey, the Surge had a last-minute switcheroo to make her No. 1 this week, so congratulations to her.
From Slate • Mar. 23, 2024
It was a grunge-to-glam twin switcheroo at Dsquared2, the Milan brand founded by Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 12, 2024
Not everyone was buying the campaign’s explanation for the switcheroo.
From Washington Times • Aug. 14, 2023
Dad didn’t speak to Mom all morning because of the turkey-tofu switcheroo.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
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.
