Download the app
educalingo
Search

Meaning of "volte-face" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD VOLTE-FACE

From French, from Italian volta-faccia, from volta a turn + faccia face.
info
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsapp
section

PRONUNCIATION OF VOLTE-FACE

volte-face  [ˈvɒltˈfɑːs] play
facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsapp

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF VOLTE-FACE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Volte-Face is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES VOLTE-FACE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Volte-face

Volte-face is a total change of position, as in policy or opinion; an about-face. The expression comes through French, from Italian voltafaccia and Portuguese volte face, composed of volta and faccia. In the context of politics a volte-face is, in modern English, often referred to as a U-turn or a flip-flop in the UK and the US respectively.

Definition of volte-face in the English dictionary

The definition of volte-face in the dictionary is a reversal, as in opinion or policy. Other definition of volte-face is a change of position so as to look, lie, etc, in the opposite direction.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH VOLTE-FACE


arse
ɑːs
Artigas
ɑːˈtiːɡɑːs
bluegrass
ˈbluːˌɡrɑːs
brass
brɑːs
bypass
ˈbaɪˌpɑːs
class
klɑːs
farce
fɑːs
farse
fɑːs
fiberglass
ˈfaɪbəɡlɑːs
first-class
ˈfɜːstˌklɑːs
glass
ɡlɑːs
grass
ɡrɑːs
hourglass
ˈaʊəˌɡlɑːs
litas
ˈliːtɑːs
maas
mɑːs
mas
mɑːs
middle-class
ˈmɪdəl klɑːs
pass
pɑːs
sparse
spɑːs
sunglass
ˈsʌnˌɡlɑːs

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE VOLTE-FACE

voltage
voltage divider
voltaic
voltaic cell
voltaic couple
voltaic pile
Voltaire
Voltairean
Voltairian
voltaism
voltameter
voltametric
voltammeter
volte
volti
voltigeur
voltinism
voltmeter

WORDS THAT END LIKE VOLTE-FACE

a slap in the face
about-face
baby-face
come to the surface
en face
face
face to face
face-to-face
hatchet-face
in-your-face
interface
light-face
on the surface
preface
pudding-face
road surface
rock face
surface
surface-to-surface
user interface

Synonyms and antonyms of volte-face in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «volte-face» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF VOLTE-FACE

Find out the translation of volte-face to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of volte-face from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «volte-face» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

变卦
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

cambio de actitud
570 millions of speakers

English

volte-face
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

वाल्ट चेहरा
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

تغيير موقفه كليا
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

поворот кругом
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

volte-face
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

সম্পূর্ণ ঘুরিয়া যাত্তয়া
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

volte-face
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Volte-face
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Kehrtwende
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

方向転換
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

방향 전환
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Volte-face
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

quay ngược lại
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

நேரெதிர்முகத் திருப்பத்தை
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

वेट-फेस
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

yüz seksen derece dönme
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

voltafaccia
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

wolty
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

поворот кругом
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

volte -face
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

μεταστροφή
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

volte -face
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

helomvändning
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

volte -ansikt
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of volte-face

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «VOLTE-FACE»

The term «volte-face» is regularly used and occupies the 81.000 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
62
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «volte-face» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of volte-face
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «volte-face».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «VOLTE-FACE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «volte-face» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «volte-face» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about volte-face

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «VOLTE-FACE»

Discover the use of volte-face in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to volte-face and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Under the Sign of [ Sic]: Sturtevant's Volte-Face
In Under the Sign of [sic], Bruce Hainley unpacks thework of Sturtevant, providing the first book-length monographic study of the artist in English.Hainley draws on elusive archival materials to tackle not only Sturtevant's work but also ...
Bruce Hainley, 2014
2
Haitian Revolutionary Studies
8. The. "Volte-Face". of. Toussaint. Louverture. Historians of the Haitian Revolution invariably consider its turning point to have come some time in the spring of 1794, when the black general Toussaint Louverture rounded on his Spanish allies ...
David Patrick Geggus, 2002
3
Theoretical Issues in Psychology: An Introduction
Volte-face. To see how the demise of positivism started, let us look at Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose ideas have twice had direct importance for the philosophy of mind and language, and by consequence for the philosophy of science - each time ...
Sacha Bem, Huib Looren de Jong, 2006
4
Ravel the Decadent: Memory, Sublimation, and Desire
The comparative adverb “moins” suggests that sublimation in the volte-face has not eliminated sexual desire but rather only lessened its expressive force. This statement is not necessarily a contradiction in terms as several scholars have ...
Michael J. Puri, 2012
5
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus
... reverse- ment, reversion, right-about, right-about-face, turn, turnabout, turning, volte-face rel bouleversement, overturning 2 syn SETBACK, backset, check, reverse reverse adj syn OPPOSITE, antipodal, antipodean, antithetical, contradictory, ...
Merriam-Webster, Inc, 1988
6
Motivation and Narrative in Herodotus
VOLTE-FACE? (9.11). A further surprise is in store for readers, however, when Athens, for her part, next changes her tune and appears to buy into pragmatism akin to the Spartans': You, Lacedaemonians, remain here celebrating the ...
Emily Baragwanath, 2008
7
Gandhi and Nationalism: The Path to Indian Independence
5. VOLTE-FACE. Introspection highlights the decisive moments in our lives, when fortune and misfortune hang in the balance while we are making our choice. One such occasion happened to Gandhi when he was rudely thrown out of his ...
Simone Panter-Brick, 2012
8
Faux Pas: A No-nonsense Guide to Words and Phrases
VOLTE-FACE volt-fass (French) 'turn around', 'complete change in point of view': The most likely explanation for the astonishing volte face was a realisation that the implications of this tour collapsing could be catastrophic for the game in ...
Philip Gooden, 2009
9
The Philosophical Foundations of Modern Medicine
... and metaphysics as two main branches of philosophy behind the old as well as the new sciences. The new epistemology and metaphysics which form the Category Volte-face: Organisms for Machines 23 Ontological or category volte- face.
Keekok Lee, 2012
10
UNIVERSUM IV
Volte-face Le courage politique n'existe plus. Lorsqu'on regarde le représentant de la Grèce se coucher devant l'oligarchie, nous savons désormais qu'il n'y a plus rien à attendre: la démocratie est morte et enterrée. Cette volte-face, et on ...
VINCENT THIERRY, 2012

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «VOLTE-FACE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term volte-face is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Modi govt volte-face on land Bill: To restore key provisions of UPA law
In clear indications that the government may make a U—turn on the contentious land acquisition law, a Parliamentary committee today approved changes in the ... «Hindu Business Line, Aug 15»
2
Iraq probes Bosnian coach's 'shocking' volte-face
Iraq's football federation Sunday requested CCTV footage from Dzemal Hadziabic's hotel after the Bosnian unexpectedly left the country within a day of flying in ... «Yahoo News UK, Aug 15»
3
Labour's volte-face
Over the years, the Labour Party's role in British politics has been to oppose every sensible and popular Conservative reform – before finally admitting that their ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»
4
Parrikar volte-face opens door for more Rafale fighters
Parrikar also did a volte-face on the mountain strike corps (MSC), repudiating an earlier statement that it was being cut down by half to one-third. On April 13 ... «Business Standard, May 15»
5
BJP's volte-face on full statehood for Delhi
The Narendra Modi government's decision on Friday to back the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in his battle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is a culmination of ... «The Hindu, May 15»
6
Davies confirms BEE ownership volte-face
[miningmx.com] – TRADE and Industry minister, Rob Davies, made an about turn regarding the downward adjustment of black economic empowerment (BEE) ... «Mining MX, May 15»
7
Volte-Face's favourite tracks
This never fails to transport the crowd into a trippier headspace. One of very few records that literally never leaves my bag. «The Guardian, May 15»
8
BJP faces flak for LBA volte-face
GUWAHATI: Even as the Lok Sabha cleared the bill to ratify the land-swap agreement between India and Bangladesh on Thursday, BJP in the state is facing ... «Times of India, May 15»
9
Ed Miliband is peddling a lie about his volte-face on Syria
Ed Miliband is peddling a lie about his volte-face on Syria. The Labour leader's behaviour in the summer of 2013 is the perfect of example of how innapropriate a ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Mar 15»
10
​Deal or no deal? SNP leader hints at Trident volte-face, Labour …
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon has dropped her deal-breaker demand for Labour to scrap Britain's nuclear weapons system, saying the ... «RT, Mar 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Volte-Face [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/volte-face>. Apr 2024 ».
Download the educalingo app
en
English dictionary
Discover all that is hidden in the words on
index
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z