Meanings
- not comparableAble to be reversed.
[…] the Welwyn bottleneck will be relaid with high-speed turnouts and resignalled for reversible working.
1960 June, “Talking of Trains: Sunday on the G.N. line”, in Trains Illustrated, page 322 - not comparableAble to be worn inside out.
That boy, Louis, is in his way a masterpiece. Do you know, every article of clothing that he wears is reversible, so that he can present quite a different appearance at the shortest notice!
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries - not comparablechemistryCapable of proceeding in either direction.
- not comparablenatural sciencesCapable of returning to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.
- not comparablelawProviding sufficient reason for a court decision to be overturned on appeal.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecapable of being reversed or used with either side out
adjectivecapable of assuming or producing either of two states
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Probably from Middle French, equivalent to reverse + -ible.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian обратим, с две лица
- обратим (obratim)able to be reversed
- с две лица (s dve lica)clothing that can be worn inside out
Catalan reversible
- reversibleable to be reversed
Czech vratný
- vratnýable to be reversed
Dutch omkeerbaar
- omkeerbaarable to be reversed
Finnish kääntyvä, käännettävä
- kääntyväable to be reversed
- käännettäväable to be reversed
French réversible, réversible
- réversibleable to be reversed
- réversibleclothing that can be worn inside out
German reversibel, wendbar
- reversibelable to be reversed
- wendbarclothing that can be worn inside out
- doppelseitigclothing that can be worn inside out
Greek αναιρέσιμος, αναστρέψιμος
- αναιρέσιμος (anairésimos)able to be reversed
- αναστρέψιμος (anastrépsimos)able to be reversed
Norwegian Bokmål reverserbar, reversibel
- reverserbarable to be reversed
- reversibelable to be reversed
- vendbarable to be reversed
- vendbarclothing that can be worn inside out
Norwegian Nynorsk reverserbar, reversibel
- reverserbarable to be reversed
- reversibelable to be reversed
- vendbarable to be reversed
Polish odwracalny, odwołalny
- odwracalnyable to be reversed
- odwołalnyclothing that can be worn inside out
Romanian reversibil
- reversibilable to be reversed
Spanish reversible
- reversibleable to be reversed
Swedish vändbar
- vändbarclothing that can be worn inside out
Turkish tersinir
- tersinircapable of proceeding in either direction
Welsh cildroadwy, dwyffordd
- cildroadwyable to be reversed
- dwyfforddable to be reversed
- dwyfforddcapable of proceeding in either direction
Cite this entry
reversible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reversible
“reversible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reversible. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reversible,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reversible.
Source: reversible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.