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Glite Dictionary
🚗 A sharp car turn 🔄 A sudden reversal
handbrake turn

handbrake turn

6.8
A sudden change of plans, policy, or behaviour
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : cambio drástico
  • After months of debate, the prime minister performed a handbrake turn on the promised tax cuts.

Examples

  • Facing public outrage, the company made a sudden handbrake turn in its advertising strategy.

  • The festival organisers executed a handbrake turn and cancelled the headline act at short notice.

  • The company made a sudden handbrake turn in its marketing strategy.

  • After the scandal, the politician executed a handbrake turn on his policies.

  • After months of debate, the prime minister performed a handbrake turn on the promised tax cuts.

  • Facing public outrage, the company made a sudden handbrake turn in its advertising strategy.

  • The festival organisers executed a handbrake turn and cancelled the headline act at short notice.

Synonyms

turnaround
vshandbrake turn
22 5.2

A sudden change to the opposite decision or policy

is more sudden and dramatic, not just planned improvement
flip-flop
vshandbrake turn
  • Literature
12 6.7

A sudden change in opinion or policy that reverses an earlier decision

is more final and decisive, not merely an unexpected change
turnabout
vshandbrake turn
10 6.0

A complete change to the opposite view or decision

is quicker and more forceful, stressing instant decisive change
backflip
vshandbrake turn
  • Literature
1 6.6

A sudden public change of a decision or promise

is broader, meaning any sudden decisive change across situations
u-turn
vshandbrake turn
3.2

A complete turn to go the opposite way, like a car on the road

is faster and more abrupt, stressing sudden decisive change
turnback
vshandbrake turn
  • UK
4.4

A decision to stop a journey and go back because of a problem

is a decisive reversal rather than a retreat or stopping short

Antonyms

stability
363 3.1

Being steady and not likely to change

continuity
52 4.7

A situation where things stay the same or keep happening without big changes

How Sudden

u-turn
3.2
handbrake turn
  • UK
6.8
reversal
25 4.2
shift
363 3.5
change
∞ 1.1
adjustment
133 2.9

Surface Forms

handbrake turn singular
handbrake turns plural

Morphology

handbrake + turn

If a learner knows 'handbrake' (a brake operated by hand) and 'turn' (a change of direction), they can picture a sudden sharp change caused by using the handbrake, so the literal driving sense is inferable. However, the extension to plans, policy or behaviour is a metaphorical transfer that may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without context, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Handbrake turn is used as a picture for a sudden change in plans: imagine someone pulling the handbrake and the car turning the other way in one move. So it means 'a sudden and complete change of direction in plans or behaviour'.