About-face - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Alternative forms
  • 1.2 Etymology
  • 1.3 Pronunciation
  • 1.4 Noun
    • 1.4.1 Translations
  • 1.5 Verb
    • 1.5.1 Translations
  • 1.6 See also

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In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary See also: about face

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:about-faceWikipedia

Alternative forms

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• about face

Etymology

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From about +‎ face, first attested in 1861, used in the imperative in the military.

Pronunciation

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• (US) IPA(key): /əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

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about-face (plural about-faces)

1. (military) An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction. The soldier did an about-face and marched off.
   • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 22:11 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022: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.
2. (figurative) A reversal in direction; a reversal of attitude or opinion. When Luke heard the news, he did an abrupt about-face on the policy.
   • 2021 March 23, David Von Drehle, “Sidney Powell does an about-face on her Stop the Steal claims”, in Washington Post‎[2], →ISSN:Sidney Powell does an about-face on her Stop the Steal claims [title]
   • 2021 July 8, Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang, quoting Mark Zuckerberg, “Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s Partnership Did Not Survive Trump”, in The New York Times‎[3], →ISSN: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.”
   • 2023 July 15, “The ‘QAnon Shaman’ and other Capitol rioters who regret pleading guilty”, in BBC News‎[4]: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.
   • 2026 January 18, Deepa Parent, William Christou, “‘He hoped Trump’s help would arrive’: why protesters in Iran feel betrayed”, in The Guardian‎[5], →ISSN: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.

Translations

[edit] military: abrupt turn to face the opposite direction

Czech: čelem vzad Dutch: rechtsomkeert (nl) Finnish: täyskäännös (fi) French: (literal) demi-tour (fr) m; (figurative) volte-face (fr) f, revirement (fr) m Galician: media volta Hungarian: hátra arc Italian: dietro front m, dietrofront m Polish: zwrot w tył m Portuguese: meia-volta f Russian: круго́м (ru) (krugóm) Spanish: media vuelta f, cambio de rumbo m Tagalog: harap sa likod Thai: กลับหลังหัน (th) (glàp-lǎng-hǎn)

reversal of direction or attitude

Dutch: koerswijziging (nl) m, ommezwaai (nl) m Finnish: täyskäännös (fi) German: Kehrtwende (de) f Hungarian: hátraarc (hu), pálfordulás (hu), pálfordulat, száznyolcvan fokos fordulat Italian: voltafaccia (it) m, voltagabbana (it) m, banderuola (it) f Polish: zwrot o 180 stopni m Portuguese: reviravolta f Spanish: media vuelta f, virazón, cambio de rumbo m

Verb

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about-face (third-person singular simple present about-faces, present participle about-facing, simple past and past participle about-faced)

1. (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees to face the opposite direction. The soldiers would about-face immediately after the order was given.
2. To change opinion or attitude drastically. A politician will about-face at the drop of a hat if he thinks there are votes in it.

Translations

[edit] to turn 180 degrees

Dutch: rechtsomkeert maken Finnish: tehdä täyskäännös French: faire demi-tour (fr), German: Kehrtwende machen Italian: fare dietrofront Polish: obracać się o 180 stopni impf, obrócić się o 180 stopni pf Spanish: dar la media vuelta, darse media vuelta Thai: กลับหลังหัน (th) (glàp-lǎng-hǎn)

to change opinion or attitude

Dutch: een totale ommekeer uitvoeren, het roer omgooien, zijn standpunt totaal wijzigen Finnish: tehdä täyskäännös French: faire volte-face (fr) Italian: fare il voltafaccia, fare il voltagabbana, cambiare casacca Polish: zmieniać poglądy o 180 stopni impf, zmienić poglądy o 180 stopni pf Spanish: cambiar de rumbo

See also

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• about turn (UK)
• arse about face
• backpedal
• heel/face turn
• turnabout
• turn around
• volte-face
• 180

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