reverse
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Going in the opposite direction or being completely different
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihvursSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈvɝs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.
Pertaining to engines, vehicle movement etc. moving in a direction opposite to the usual direction.
Of the transmission gear causing backward movement in a motor vehicle
rail transportof points
To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.
Turned upside down; greatly disturbed.
noun
The act of going backwards; a reversal.
Turning in the opposite direction
The side of something facing away from a viewer, or from what is considered the front; the other side.
The gear setting of an automobile that makes it travel backwards. (Denoted with symbol R on a shifter's labeling.)
A piece of misfortune; a setback.
verb
transitive
To turn something around so that it faces the opposite direction or runs in the opposite sequence.
Turn inside out or upside down
transitive
To transpose the positions of two things.
Change to the contrary
transitive
To change totally; to alter to the opposite.
To overthrow; to subvert.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Opposite, contrary; going in the opposite direction.
Used this way, reverse is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use reverse
- “We thought Sue was older than Bill but just the reverse was true.”noun
- “The trend was reversed.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Opposite / pertaining
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A change from one state to the opposite state.
Capable of reversing or being reversed.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A decrease in the number of outstanding shares of a corporation without changing the shareholders' equity.
A polymerase that catalyzes the formation of DNA using RNA as a template.
An antiviral drug that inhibits the action of reverse transcriptase in retroviruses such as HIV.
A thermometer that registers the temperature in deep waters.
A geological fault in which the upper side appears to have been pushed upward by compression.
The gears by which the motion of a machine can be reversed.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Any process in which a system can be made to pass through the same states in the reverse order when the process is reversed.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.