volte-face

[volt-fahs, vohlt-; French vawltuh-fas]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR volte-face ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural volte-face.

a turnabout, especially a reversal of opinion or policy.

Origin of volte-face

1810–20; < French < Italian voltafaccia, equivalent to volta turn (see volt²) + faccia face

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

Related Words for volte-face

annulment, U-turn, cancellation, switch, turnaround, repeal, turnabout, reversal, flip-flop, denial, repudiation, disclaimer, disavowal, whirl, swivel, rotate, depend, veer, twirl, wiggle

Examples from the Web for volte-face

Contemporary Examples of volte-face

It leaves out only the actual reason for her abrupt, 11th-hour volte-face.
How Hillary's Feeling About Caroline
Christopher Buckley
January 24, 2009

Historical Examples of volte-face

It was the same as that which he had for Hincks's volte-face. '
The Tribune of Nova Scotia
W. L. (William Lawson) Grant
For if the volte-face is general, the only embarrassment arises from not executing it.
The Angel of Pain
E. F. Benson
But Russia's betrayal is not sufficient to account for the Serbian volte-face.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
Such a volte-face as this was not only palpably unjust, it was altogether too nimble a bit of gymnastics for Duplay to appreciate.
Tristram of Blent
Anthony Hope
What will justify such a volte-face and with what excuse can he repudiate the principles with which he justified his takeover?
The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 4 (of 6)
Hippolyte A. Taine

British Dictionary definitions for volte-face

volte-face

noun plural volte-face

a reversal, as in opinion or policy

a change of position so as to look, lie, etc, in the opposite direction

Word Origin for volte-face

C19: from French, from Italian volta-faccia, from volta a turn + faccia 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 volte-face

a reversal of opinion, 1819, French, from Italian volta faccia, literally "turn face," from volta, imper. of voltare "to turn" (from Vulgar Latin *volvita, from Latin volvere "to roll;" see volvox) + faccia (see face).