versus
Americanpreposition
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against (used especially to indicate an action brought by one party against another in a court of law, or to denote competing teams or players in a sports contest).
Smith versus Jones; Army versus Navy.
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as compared to or as one of two choices; in contrast with: v., vs.
traveling by plane versus traveling by train.
preposition
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v. vs. (esp in a competition or lawsuit) against; in opposition to
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as opposed to; in contrast with
Etymology
Origin of versus
First recorded in 1400–50; Late Middle English, from Latin: literally, “towards,” i.e., “turned so as to face (something), opposite, over against,” originally past participle of vertere “to turn”; see verse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
From current levels, I see only 2% to 3% additional downside versus longer-term upside potential of more than 20%, creating a favorable risk-reward setup.
From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026
Investors are seeing this happen in the South Korea with Samsung and SK Hynix versus the rest of the market.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
But two things stand out about the context of this now, versus earlier revelations in this saga.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026
Its rolling, five-year premium versus an S&P 500 index fund has been negative since 2016, though, according to Alexander Hübbert, a postdoctoral finance researcher at Stockholm University.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
Galton coined the memorable phrase nature versus nurture to discriminate hereditary and environmental influences.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
