About-face

/əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/ · noun

Meaning

(military) An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction..

Definitions by Sense

1. (military) An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction.
2. (figurative) A reversal in direction; a reversal of attitude or opinion.
3. (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees to face the opposite direction.
4. To change opinion or attitude drastically.

Example Sentences

The soldier did an about-face and marched off.

Deciding that he hasn't had enough action for one day, Captain Evans of the Johnston orders another 180-degree about-face to give gunfire support to the new arrivals, this time picking on the heavy cruiser Tone.

When Luke heard the news, he did an abrupt about-face on the policy.

Sidney Powell does an about-face on her Stop the Steal claims [title]

In yet another about-face decision on speech, Mr. Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was planning to de-emphasize political content in the News Feed because, he said, “people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our service.”

His [Jake Angeli's] about-face is such that he is even taking his case back to court to ask his guilty plea to be reversed. And he is far from the alone in changing his mind about the events at the Capitol.

But just a day later, Trump abruptly did an about-face, telling reporters that he had received assurances that Iranian authorities would not execute anyone, walking back from military intervention in Iran, at least temporarily.

The soldiers would about-face immediately after the order was given.

Synonyms for about-face

Antonyms for about-face

Related Words

Word Forms

• about-faces
• about face
• about-facing
• about-faced

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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