vis-à-vis

[ vee-zuh-vee; French vee-za-vee ]
See synonyms for vis-à-vis on Thesaurus.com
preposition
  1. compared with: The graph shows income vis-à-vis expenditures.

  2. in relation to or toward: The report is an examination of Japan’s foreign policy vis-à-vis its Asian neighbors.

  1. with regard to; concerning; about: I’ve read his comments vis-à-vis the role of the media in international conflicts.

  2. facing; opposite: We are now vis-à-vis the most famous painting in the Louvre.

adverb
  1. face to face: They sat vis-à-vis at the table.

adjective
  1. face-to-face: a vis-à-vis encounter.

  2. Numismatics. (of a coin) having two portraits facing each other.

noun,plural vis-à-vis [vee-zuh-veez; French vee-za-vee]. /ˌvi zəˈviz; French vi zaˈvi/.
  1. a person face to face with or situated opposite to another: He offered a cigarette to his vis-à-vis.

  2. a date at a social affair: She introduced her vis-à-vis to the hostess.

  1. a person of equal authority, rank, or the like: my vis-à-vis in the Louisville office.

  2. a carriage in which the occupants sit face to face.

Origin of vis-à-vis

1
First recorded in 1745–55; from French: literally, “face to face”; see visage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vis-à-vis in a sentence

  • It took all my energy and most of my French to convince his vis-à-vis that she was mistaken.

    Berry And Co. | Dornford Yates
  • The large young man had been her vis-à-vis at dinner the day before and at breakfast that morning.

    Big Timber | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • She glanced at Mr. Barker with pleasing insinuation, and they seated themselves vis-à-vis at the little table.

    Just Around the Corner | Fannie Hurst
  • My vis à vis, all the while regarding me unwinkingly, overheard me speak to A—, in English.

  • The solicitor looked again, questioningly, into the face of his vis-à-vis, and then something like surprise came into his own.

    The Last Stroke | Lawrence L. Lynch

British Dictionary definitions for vis-à-vis

vis-à-vis

/ (ˌviːzɑːˈviː) /


preposition
  1. in relation to; regarding

  2. face to face with; opposite

adverb, adjective
  1. face to face; opposite

nounplural vis-à-vis
  1. a person or thing that is situated opposite to another

  2. a person who corresponds to another in office, capacity, etc; counterpart

  1. an upholstered sofa; tête-à-tête

  2. a type of horse-drawn carriage in which the passengers sit opposite one another

  3. a coin having an obverse upon which two portraits appear facing each other

Origin of vis-à-vis

1
C18: French, from vis face

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for vis-à-vis

vis-à-vis

[ (vee-zuh-vee) ]


Relative to; compared with: “She performed well vis-à-vis the rest of the competitors.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.