adversely
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
- unadversely adverb
Etymology
Origin of adversely
Explanation
When something affects you adversely, it's harmful or negative. Holding a cinder block will adversely affect your running speed. When you talk about things that are acting adversely, they are harming something or holding it back in some way. Not getting enough sleep will adversely affect your performance in school. Rain will adversely affect an outdoor wedding. Anything that's making things worse instead of better is adversely influencing the situation. Adversely means something close to badly or harmfully. So when you see this word, you know something is going wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing adversely
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly
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167 Vocabulary words from the Supreme Court's DOMA Decision
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Vocabulary from the Seventh Democratic Debate, March 6, 2016
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It added that disclosure would also be "likely to adversely affect the council/OFRS' ability to conduct effective regulatory investigations and enforcement action".
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
“I do think Google’s self-sufficiency should command a premium relative to the others that could be adversely impacted by one cog in the wheel,” Treacy said, referring to Google’s proprietary tensor processing units.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026
“If consumers’ preference for downloading video game content in lieu of physical software continues to increase, our business and financial performance may be adversely impacted.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
“We see Sangomar performing relatively strongly over 4Q, but its sales volumes adversely affected by shipment timing,” says analyst Gordon Ramsay, referring to Woodside’s oil project in Senegal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026
Some very recent work indicates that reproduction of birds may be adversely affected by these and certain other herbicides at levels far below those that cause death.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
