adverse
[ad-vurs, ad-vurs]
- unfavorable or antagonistic in purpose or effect: adverse criticism.
- opposing one's interests or desire: adverse circumstances.
- being or acting in a contrary direction; opposed or opposing: adverse winds.
- opposite; confronting: the adverse page.
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Origin of adverse
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French advers < Latin adversus hostile (past participle of advertere), equivalent to ad- ad- + vert- turn + -tus past participle suffix, with -tt- > -s-
Synonyms
See more synonyms for adverse on Thesaurus.com1. hostile, inimical, unfriendly. 2. unfavorable; unlucky, unfortunate; disastrous, calamitous, catastrophic.
Synonym study
2. See contrary.
Antonyms
1–3. favorable.
Usage note
The adjectives adverse and averse are related both etymologically and semantically, each having “opposition” as a central sense. Adverse is seldom used of people but rather of effects or events, and it usually conveys a sense of hostility or harmfulness: adverse reviews; adverse winds; adverse trends in the economy. Related nouns are adversity and adversary: Adversities breed bitterness. His adversaries countered his every move. Averse is used of persons and means “feeling opposed or disinclined”; it often occurs idiomatically with a preceding negative to convey the opposite meaning “willing or agreeable,” and is not interchangeable with adverse in these contexts: We are not averse to holding another meeting. The related noun is aversion: She has a strong aversion to violence. Averse is usually followed by to, in older use occasionally by from.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for adversely
Contemporary Examples
Others told us it adversely affected their career opportunities.
I worry that these forces are nudging our kids towards behaviors that could adversely impact them down the road.
Plus, “shareholders may be adversely affected by lack of regular shareholder meetings and no voting rights.”
However, bad weather can adversely affect the incumbent party, some studies show.
That could adversely affect fish and marine life, which could in turn have an impact on people.
Historical Examples
It was referred to the Committee on the Public Lands and reported on adversely.
Mr. Round, however, has adversely criticised this conclusion.
London Before the ConquestW. R. Lethaby
"It wouldn't do to be adversely criticized by your boy," he thought.
In the WildernessRobert Hichens
Both the quality and the quantity of the crop were adversely affected.
Inorganic Plant Poisons and StimulantsWinifred E. Brenchley
Every article of the Settlement affected their interests most adversely.
adverse
- antagonistic or inimical; hostileadverse criticism
- unfavourable to one's interestsadverse circumstances
- contrary or opposite in direction or positionadverse winds
- (of leaves, flowers, etc) facing the main stemCompare averse (def. 2)
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin adversus opposed to, hostile, from advertere to turn towards, from ad- to, towards + vertere to turn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for adversely
adverse
adj.
late 14c., "contrary, opposing," from Old French avers (13c., Modern French adverse) "antagonistic, unfriendly, contrary, foreign" (e.g. gent avers "infidel race"), from Latin adversus "turned against, turned toward, fronting, facing," figuratively "hostile, adverse, unfavorable," past participle of advertere, from ad- "to" (see ad-) + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Related: Adversely.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper