adversative

American  

[ad-vur-suh-tiv] / ædˈvɜr sə tɪv /

adjective

1. expressing contrariety, opposition, or antithesis.

   “But” is an adversative conjunction.

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noun

1. an adversative word or proposition.

adversative British  

/ ədˈvɜːsətɪv /

adjective

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

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noun

1. an adversative word or speech element

Other Word Forms

• adversatively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of adversative

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adversative

Ginsburg explicitly said it “may be assumed” that most women did not want to go through the adversative model of VMI.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

Companies that in the past had an adversative relationship with conservation groups have begun to take actions that are more than public relations.

From Time Magazine Archive

In view of the doubtful status of adversative atque at the time of Ovid and the ease of corruption of atqui to atque I have followed Heinsius in reading atqui.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Mark Bear Akrigg

"Or" here is not the adversative conjunction but an entirely different word, an archaic variant of "ere," meaning "before."

From Coleridge's Ancient Mariner and Select Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

But is termed the adversative coördinate conjunction because it usually introduces something adverse to what has already been said.

From Composition-Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks

Related Words

• antagonistic