versus

preposition

ver·​sus ˈvər-səs  -səz 

1

: against

2

: in contrast to or as the alternative of

free trade versus protection

Did you know?

Abbreviating Versus

In a number of areas the English language is possessed of an embarrassment of riches, with multiple synonyms or abbreviations for a word. One such case is versus, which is often written in a shortened form. You may choose between vs, vs., and v. Take care, when writing the word out in full, that you distinguish between versus (a preposition meaning “against”) and verses (“lines of metrical writing”).

Examples of versus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Krugman drew a straight line from France’s retirement largesse to the student unrest, highlighting the generational tensions over how to allocate public resources to baby boomers versus the country’s youth. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026

Dawson played four minutes in the opener versus Notre Dame, then missed KU’s next two games. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 10 Oct. 2026

The contracts negotiated with the UC do not mention different salaries for visa holders versus citizens. — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026

However, the testing was small and done on the cream as a whole, so there’s no way to tease out how much of those results came from MRA-3 versus everything else packed into the formula. — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 9 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Medieval Latin, towards, against, from Latin, adverb, so as to face, from past participle of vertere to turn

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for versus

• cursus
• ursus
• excursus
• transversus

Kids Definition

versus

preposition

ver·​sus ˈvər-səs  -səz 

1

: against sense 1a

the champion versus the challenger

2

: in contrast to or as the alternative of

the tastiness of store-bought versus homemade cookies