adversity
Americannoun
-
adverse or unfavorable fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress.
Friends will show their true colors in times of adversity.
- Synonyms:
- misery, trouble, disaster, catastrophe
- Antonyms:
- prosperity
-
an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance.
You will meet many adversities in life.
noun
-
distress; affliction; hardship
-
an unfortunate event or incident
Synonym Usage
See affliction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of adversity
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English adversite, from Anglo-French, from Latin adversitās “opposition”; equivalent to adverse + -ity
Explanation
When circumstances or situations work against you, you face adversity. Refugees from war-torn countries encounter terrible adversity. Adversity, a noun which has been part of the English language for over 800 years, comes from the Latin adversus, literally "turned against" and figuratively "hostile or unfavorable." When things seem against you — circumstances or a stroke of bad luck — you are facing adversity. Sometimes people use a form of the phrase "turning adversity into opportunity." This refers to the ability some people or companies have to take a bad situation and make it into a successful one.
Vocabulary lists containing adversity
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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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.
There will be no advert to which anyone can put their name forward to, with possible candidates instead "invited in" to the process.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2025
After leaving home, Myers studied fine art at Goldsmiths in London, before spotting an advert to train as a make-up artist at the BBC.
From BBC • Feb. 29, 2024
The Polish diplomat said he had sent the original advert to various embassies in Kyiv, and that someone had called him back because the price looked "attractive".
From Reuters • Jul. 12, 2023
She said: "I think it's a really good advert to say to other people with sight loss, 'go out there and go for your goals and go and try and do it'."
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2023
But this was an advert to make you go to Malaysia on a holiday.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
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.
