Versus Meaning
/ˈvɜːsəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
prepAgainst; in opposition to.
prepCompared with, as opposed to.
Sentence Examples
The exchange rate of the dollar versus the euro has declined.
Your opponents are an illusion. There are no distinct entities of "us" versus "them."
It is France versus Brazil in the final.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The final match in the tournament is the top player ____ the newcomer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The match was a classic battle of tradition ____ innovation, with both teams playing their several very best today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English versus, borrowed from Latin versus (“facing”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial."
— 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:
"If, for example, we select random people entering a workout gym, versus if we pick random people entering a hospital, we will get very different samples."
— 2005, Robert E. Weiss, Modeling Longitudinal Data, Springer, →ISBN, page 104:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The final match in the tournament is the top player ____ the newcomer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The match was a classic battle of tradition ____ innovation, with both teams playing their several very best today.