Other forms: adversities
Adversity is serious difficulty and misfortune. Face adversity, in the teeth of adversity, overcome adversity.
It is a formal word and it belongs to speeches and obituaries more than to conversation. The claim that adversity builds character is very old and only partly supported — moderate hardship with support behind it does, and severe hardship without it does not.
1nounadversitySerious difficulty and misfortune.
“She showed great strength in the face of adversity after losing her home.”
adversity is a hardship.
Latin adversitas comes from adversus, turned against, from advertere, to turn towards. Adverse and averse are relatives.
Latin
adversitātem
Old French
adversité
English, today
adversity
Built from
From Old French adversité, from Latin adversitātem, the accusative singular of adversitās, from adversus, the perfect passive participle of advertō (“to turn toward”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA