about-face
/əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/
"about-face" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“about-face” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction.
Corpus desk
Index EN-about-face · about-face · English
about-face · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | about-face |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “about-face” in English
Rare enough to double-check
about-face is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
about-face has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From about + face, first attested in 1861, used in the imperative in the military. The correct English form is about-face, spelled A-B-O-U-T---F-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction.
- 2A reversal in direction; a reversal of attitude or opinion.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how about-face appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
Etymology
From about + face, first attested in 1861, used in the imperative in the military.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.