as in face-to-face
in direct confrontation or competition
bragged that no one could go one-on-one with her in a game of darts and win
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for one-on-one
Adverb
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Keeping the camera still in a courthouse’s small, windowless chambers, Depardon depicts these face-to-face showdowns as litanies of misery, as the officials make suspects confront the grim circumstances leading to their arrests.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2026 -
The idea of normalizing relations with Israel is wildly unpopular among Arabs — 8 in 10 consider Palestine a collective Arab cause — according to the annual survey by the Arab Center in Doha, which involved 40,000 face-to-face interviews across the region.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Embracing those expectations rather than fighting them, Kok extended her two-year-plus unbeaten streak at her sport’s shortest distance Sunday, adding a gold medal and the Olympic record to her world mark, beating Jackson head-to-head in the final heat and relegating Leerdam to the silver.—
Howard Fendrich,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
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Based on the committee’s projections, the Huskies could go head-to-head with Ralph’s squad in the Final Four.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
15 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Ethan Hawke embraced politics head-on at the Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday ahead of the premiere of his latest movie, The Weight.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Feb. 2026
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Two people were killed and a third person was seriously injured Monday afternoon following a head-on collision on Highway 49 in El Dorado County, officials said.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“One-on-one.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/one-on-one. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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