Adverse

//ˈæd.və(ɹ)s// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Unfavorable; antagonistic in purpose or effect; hostile; actively opposing one's interests or wishes; contrary to one's welfare; acting against; working in an opposing direction.

    "adverse criticism"

  2. 2
    Opposed; contrary; opposing one's interests or desire.

    "adverse circumstances"

  3. 3
    Opposite; confronting. not-comparable

    "the adverse page"

Adjective
  1. 1
    in an opposing direction wordnet
  2. 2
    contrary to your interests or welfare wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
unfavorableuntowardadversaryadversativeadversivealien

Example

More examples

"It has been shown in most studies on this subject that intervention of the legislature had adverse effects."

Etymology

First attested around 1374, from Old French avers (French adverse), from Latin adversus (“turned against”), past participle of advertere, from ad- (“to”) + vertere (“to turn”). See also versus.

Related phrases

adverse effectadverse eventadverse impactadverse interestadverse partyadverse possessionadverse selectionadverse witnessadverse yaw

More for "adverse"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.