adversative

[ ad-vur-suh-tiv ]
See synonyms for adversative on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. expressing contrariety, opposition, or antithesis: “But” is an adversative conjunction.

noun
  1. an adversative word or proposition.

Origin of adversative

1
1525–35; <Late Latin adversātīvus, equivalent to adversāt(us) (past participle of adversārī to resist; see adverse, -ate1) + -īvus-ive

Other words from adversative

  • ad·ver·sa·tive·ly, adverb

Words Nearby adversative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use adversative in a sentence

  • Without the adversative, the colon is to be preferred: "Prosperity showeth vice: adversity, virtue."

    The Verbalist | Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
  • Another example is, "Only the star dazzles; the planet has a faint, moon-like ray" (adversative).

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
  • They are sometimes adversative; sometimes they are simply cumulative.

    The Greatest English Classic | Cleland Boyd McAfee
  • The que here has a slight adversative force, as is often the case with et.

    Cato Maior de Senectute | Marcus Tullius Cicero
  • But the conjunction is often omitted in copulative and adversative clauses, as in Sec.

    An English Grammar | W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell

British Dictionary definitions for adversative

adversative

/ (ədˈvɜːsətɪv) grammar /


adjective
  1. (of a word, phrase, or clause) implying opposition or contrast. But and although are adversative conjunctions introducing adversative clauses

noun
  1. an adversative word or speech element

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012