adversity

[ad-vur-si-tee]

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noun, plural ad·ver·si·ties for 2.

adverse or unfavorable fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress: Friends will show their true colors in times of adversity.
an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance: You will meet many adversities in life.

Origin of adversity

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

Synonyms for adversity

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1. catastrophe, disaster; trouble, misery.

Synonym study

2. See affliction.

Antonyms for adversity

1. prosperity.

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

Related Words for adversities

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 of adversities

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.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery
Robert Means Lawrence
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.
Memorials of Old London
Various
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

distress; affliction; hardship
an unfortunate event or incident

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

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).