vis-à-vis

[vee-zuh-vee; French vee-za-vee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vis-à-vis ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

face to face: They sat vis-à-vis at the table.

adjective

face-to-face: a vis-à-vis encounter.

Numismatics. (of a coin) having two portraits facing each other.

preposition

in relation to; compared with: income vis-à-vis expenditures.

facing; opposite: They were now vis-à-vis the most famous painting in the Louvre.

noun, plural vis-à-vis [vee-zuh-veez; French vee-za-vee] /ˌvi zəˈviz; French vi zaˈvi/.

a person face to face with or situated opposite to another: He offered a cigarette to his vis-à-vis.

a date at a social affair: She introduced her vis-à-vis to the hostess.

a person of equal authority, rank, or the like: my vis-à-vis in the Louisville office.

a carriage in which the occupants sit face to face.

Furniture. tête-à-tête(def 2).

Origin of vis-à-vis

1745–55; < French: face to face; see visage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vis-a-vis

facing, date, escort, opposite, versus

Examples from the Web for vis-a-vis

Contemporary Examples of vis-a-vis

Vis-a-vis writing, Exeter was the place I got interested in writing.
Chang-rae Lee: How I Write
Noah Charney
January 22, 2014
Not only on the diplomatic level— i.e., vis-a-vis Europe or Israel, but also within Palestinian society.
Losing Jerusalem Sewage Plant Could Prove Longer Term Win for Palestinians
Hillel Cohen
September 13, 2013

Historical Examples of vis-a-vis

The lieutenant turned briskly, so, too, did Mr. Winslow and his vis-a-vis.
Shavings
Joseph C. Lincoln
Just then Seriosha came and requested me to be his vis-a-vis.
Childhood
Leo Tolstoy
"That speaks volumes for my charms at that time," interrupted his vis-a-vis.
Jennie Gerhardt
Theodore Dreiser
He struck one and handed it to his vis-a-vis, bowing with his foreign grace.
Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo
William Le Queux
His vis-a-vis, as luck, or ill-luck would have it, was the monocle-man.
Nothing But the Truth
Frederic S. Isham

British Dictionary definitions for vis-a-vis

vis-à-vis

preposition

in relation to; regarding

face to face with; opposite

adverb, adjective

face to face; opposite

noun plural vis-à-vis

a person or thing that is situated opposite to another

a person who corresponds to another in office, capacity, etc; counterpart

an upholstered sofa; tête-à-tête

a type of horse-drawn carriage in which the passengers sit opposite one another

a coin having an obverse upon which two portraits appear facing each other

Word Origin for vis-à-vis

C18: French, from vis face

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vis-a-vis

1753, from French prepositional use of the adj. vis-à-vis "face to face," from Old French vis "face" (see visage).

vis-a-vis in Culture

vis-à-vis

[(vee-zuh-vee)]

Relative to; compared with: “She performed well vis-à-vis the rest of the competitors.”