adverse

UK/ˈæd.və(ɹ)s/US/ˈæd.və(ɹ)s/

adjectiveC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,491 of 15,258leans written

Adverse means working against you. Adverse conditions, adverse effects, adversely affected.

It describes circumstances rather than people: adverse weather, adverse publicity, an adverse reaction. Adverse effects is the standard term in medicine for unwanted results of a drug. Note the confusion with averse, which means opposed and describes a person — risk-averse, averse to change — and takes to. Adverse conditions and being averse to them are quite different things.

Definitions of adverse

1adjectiveadverseWorking against you.C1
“The match was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions.”
synonyms: unfavourable, hostile

adverse is a quality of opposition.

Also accepted in games: unfavorable

Where it comes from

Latin adversus means turned against, from ad plus vertere, to turn. Convert, versus and version come from the same turning.

Proto-Indo-European
*wert-
Latin
adversus — turned against
Old French
avers
English, today
adverse

Built from

ad- · Latin — to
vertere · Latin — to turn

First attested around 1374, from Old French avers (French adverse), from Latin adversus (“turned against”), past participle of advertere, from ad- (“to”) + vertere (“to turn”). See also versus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sharper Adjectives

Practise this word

adverse in the wild

When properly delivered, it has a low rate of mostly minor adverse effects.
Acupuncture
Some jurisdictions regulate squatting separately from adverse possession.
Adverse possession
Acute toxicity describes the adverse effects of a substance that result either from a single exposure or from multiple exposures in a short period of time.
Acute toxicity
To be described as acute toxicity, the adverse effects should occur within 14 days of the administration of the substance.
Acute toxicity
An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect.
Adverse effect

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the vertere family

divorce anniversary

adverse — used about once every 4,708 pages · #9,491 · point at the bar for the others

adversary

← Vocabulary