volte-face
/vɒltˈfæs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.46 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Psychoanalysis has sprung many surprises on us, performed more than one volte face before our indignant eyes."
- "Then, on July 15, 1971, came Nixon's sudden announcement that Kissinger had just made a secret trip to Peking and that he himself had accepted Chou En-lai's invitation to visit the Chinese mainland sometime before May, 1972. This was instantly interpreted in chancelleries all over the world as a sign that the United States was about to execute a volte-face in its China policy."
- "My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester – although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside."
- "For one-time advocates of unfettered globalisation, this volte-face has resulted in cognitive dissonance, because the new suite of policy proposals implies that longstanding rules of the international trading system will be bent or broken."
- "Shakespeare often used volte-faces in the rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets."
Etymology
Borrowed from French volte-face.