adverse

ad·verse

adjective \ad-ˈvərs, ˈad-ˌ\

Definition of ADVERSE

1

: acting against or in a contrary direction : hostile <hindered by adverse winds>

2

a : opposed to one's interests <an adverse verdict> <heard testimony adverse to their position>; especially : unfavorable <adverse criticism>

b : causing harm : harmful <adverse drug effects>

3

archaic : opposite in position

— ad·verse·ly adverb

— ad·verse·ness noun

Examples of ADVERSE

1. <all the adverse publicity really caused the movie star's popularity to suffer>
2. <the adverse effects of the drug are too severe to allow it to be marketed>
3. The Bankruptcy Code requires that debtor's counsel be disinterested and not have an interest adverse to the estate. —Lawyers Weekly USA, 4 Oct. 1999
4. On more than one occasion his decrees provoked riots, and there were those who voiced adverse opinions on the Duke in public. —Alison Weir, The Princes in the Tower, 1992
5. The plant tolerates adverse conditions … —Dave Dunn, Fine Gardening, January/February 1991

Origin of ADVERSE

Middle English, from Anglo-French advers, from Latin adversus, past participle of advertere

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ADVERSE

Synonyms

counter, disadvantageous, hostile, inimical, negative, prejudicial, unfavorable, unfriendly, unsympathetic, untoward

Antonyms

advantageous, favorable, friendly, positive, supportive, sympathetic, well-disposed

Related Words

bad, baleful, baneful, evil; damaging, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, fatal, harmful, hurtful, ill, injurious, lethal, malignant, murderous, noxious, pernicious, poisonous, ruinous, threatening, troublesome, unhealthy, wounding; dangerous, hazardous, imperiling (or imperilling), jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe; calumnious, defamatory, detractive, offensive, scathing, slanderous; antagonistic, antipathetic, inhospitable, intolerant, uncongenial, uncooperative; competing, conflicting, counteracting, countering, opposing, resistant, resisting

Near Antonyms

beneficial, good, helpful, propitious, useful; harmless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, nondestructive, nonfatal, nonlethal, nonthreatening; unresistant; tolerant, understanding; affable, agreeable, amiable, amicable, benign, benignant, complying, congenial, cordial, friendly, hospitable

Rhymes with ADVERSE

amerce, asperse, averse, coerce, commerce, converse, cutpurse, disburse, disperse, diverse, dry nurse, free verse, immerse, inverse, Nez Percé, obverse, perverse, rehearse, reverse, scrub nurse, sesterce, submerse, transverse, traverse, wet nurse