role reversal

role reversal (countable and uncountable, plural role reversals)

1. A situation in which two people adopt roles that are the reverse of the roles they normally assume in relation to one another.
   • 1996, Placebo (lyrics and music), “Nancy Boy”:

     And it all breaks down at the role reversal
     Got the muse in my head, she's universal
     Spinning me round, she's coming over me

   • 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:

     The table opposite me is occupied by a young couple with a table full of alcohol and snacks. In a role reversal, he is drinking Smirnoff Ice while she steadily demolishes a six-pack of lager!

• “role reversal”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “role reversal”, in Collins English Dictionary.