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adversity

[ad-vur-si-tee]
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noun, plural ad·ver·si·ties for 2.
  1. adverse or unfavorable fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress: Friends will show their true colors in times of adversity.
  2. an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You will meet many adversities in life.
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Origin of adversity

1200–50; Middle English adversite (< Anglo-French) < Latin adversitās. See adverse, -ity

Synonyms

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1. catastrophe, disaster; trouble, misery.

Synonym study

2. See affliction.

Antonyms

1. prosperity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

disaster, crunch, misfortune, hardship, sorrow, suffering, mishap, difficulty, calamity, misery, trouble, catastrophe, reverse, clutch, contretemps, poison, trial, drag, jam, bummer

Examples from the Web for adversities

Historical Examples

  • Why, her grief over the country's adversities must have cut her life short.

    Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2 of 8

    Various

  • It will help thee at thy need, in sickness, grief, and all adversities.

  • Ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all adversities.

    Orthography

    Elmer W. Cavins

  • But their English hearts were not daunted, and bravely did they struggle with their adversities.

  • But with our own distempers and adversities it is altogether different.

    Thoughts on Man

    William Godwin

British Dictionary definitions for adversities

adversity

noun plural -ties
  1. distress; affliction; hardship
  2. an unfortunate event or incident
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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

Word Origin and History for adversities

adversity

n.

c.1200, aduersite "misfortune, hardship, difficulty," from Old French aversité "adversity, calamity, misfortune; hostility, wickedness, malice" (Modern French adversité), from Latin adversitatem (nominative adversitas) "opposition," from adversus (see adverse).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper