adversative

American  

[ad-vur-suh-tiv] / ædˈvɜr sə tɪv /

adjective

1. expressing contrariety, opposition, or antithesis.

   “But” is an adversative conjunction.

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noun

1. an adversative word or proposition.

adversative British  

/ ədˈvɜːsətɪv /

adjective

1. (of a word, phrase, or clause) implying opposition or contrast. But and although are adversative conjunctions introducing adversative clauses

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noun

1. an adversative word or speech element

Other Word Forms

• adversatively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of adversative

1525–35; < Late Latin adversātīvus, equivalent to adversāt ( us ) (past participle of adversārī to resist; see adverse, -ate ¹) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adversative

Ginsburg explicitly said it “may be assumed” that most women did not want to go through the adversative model of VMI.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

Companies that in the past had an adversative relationship with conservation groups have begun to take actions that are more than public relations.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Or" here is not the adversative conjunction but an entirely different word, an archaic variant of "ere," meaning "before."

From Coleridge's Ancient Mariner and Select Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Cocke and I have felt it in our bones—Gammer Gurton's Needle With adversative or disjunctive connectives.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

The word especially is used for a term of distinction, even in those places where the adversative but is not joined to it, as in Tit. i.

From The Divine Right of Church Government by Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London by

Related Words

• antagonistic