Trivia Time

In the famous epic poem, who is the adversary of Odysseus?

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adversary

American  

[ad-ver-ser-ee] / ˈæd vərˌsɛr i /

noun

• adversaries
  plural

1. a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent; enemy; foe.

   Antonyms:

   ally

2. a person, group, etc., that is an opponent in a contest; contestant.

3. the Adversary, the devil; Satan.

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adjective

1. of or relating to an adversary.

2. involving adversaries, as plaintiff and defendant in a legal proceeding.

   an adversary trial.

adversary British  

/ ˈædvəsərɪ /

noun

1. a person or group that is hostile to someone; enemy

2. an opposing contestant in a game or sport

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adjective

1. the US term for adversarial

Synonym Usage

Adversary, antagonist mean a person or a group contending against another. Adversary suggests an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly: a formidable adversary. Antagonist suggests one who, in hostile spirit, opposes another, often in a particular contest or struggle: a duel with an antagonist.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• adversariness
  noun
• adversarial
  adjective
• nonadversarial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• adversaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of adversary

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adversarie, from Latin adversārius; equivalent to adverse + -ary; replacing Middle English adversere, from Anglo-French

Explanation

An adversary is an enemy or someone who opposes someone else. In tennis, you stand across the net from your adversary. Adversary is related to the word adverse, meaning "against or contrary" — so think of an adversary as someone whom you are fighting against. If you're the undefeated chess champion, you have bested every single one of your adversaries. Adversary is derived from a Latin word meaning "against."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adversary adversaries

Two sources also say Diddy has access to a “jailbroken” tablet where he watches movies and documentaries, including “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” the Netflix docuseries produced by his adversary Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks are loose terms that tend to describe non-military methods, for example cyber-attacks, sabotage or misinformation, designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

"The US has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action," a US Space Force spokesperson said in a statement that did not provide specifics on the weapons.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Any adversary who is unscrupulous enough to give the least charitable reading to an unhedged statement will find an opening to attack the writer in a thicket of hedged ones anyway.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Also known as spectrum warfare, EW essentially relies on finding or disrupting the frequencies that adversaries are using, or hiding signals from enemy interference.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Marine in Iraq, because America’s adversaries had such little capability in this field.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Once described as a perpetual prime minister-in-waiting, he finally got the top job in 2022, but only by forming an uneasy coalition with his one-time adversaries UMNO.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Speaking at the UK Space Conference, Streeting said that threat from Britain's adversaries was growing in "scale, speed and sophistication", adding that the "challenges in space increasingly mirror the geopolitics on Earth".

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Despite European guns, the Indians’ greater numbers, entrenched positions, knowledge of the terrain, and superb archery made them formidable adversaries.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• antagonist
• attacker
• competitor
• enemy
• foe
• opponent
• rival