turn against

phrasal verb

turned against; turning against; turns against

1

: to stop supporting or being friendly to (someone or something)

The senator eventually turned against the war.

She turned against her best friend.

2

: to cause (someone) to stop being friendly toward (someone)

He tried to turn our friends against us.

3

: to use (something) in a way that harms or discredits (someone)

Her political opponent tried to turn her many years of experience in Washington against her.

Examples of turn against in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Abu Hudheifa al-Bambari, a JNIM spokesperson, released a video statement last month to warn civilians not to help the army, which is backed by a Russian force after Mali's rulers turned against years of help from former colonial power France. —Matthew Tostevin, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025

The politicized removal of these tools reflects an irony—ICE is aggrieved that its own tactics have been turned against it. —Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2025

Their work helps explain why colonies sometimes turn against their monarch and offers clues on how to prevent it. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 27 Oct. 2025

But there’s a dark side to this turn against the suddenly middle-aged, passé millennial generation. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for turn against

• recommenced
• recompensed
• commenced
• condensed
• dispensed
• expensed
• incensed
• unfenced
• fenced
• sensed
• tensed