adversity

adversity

noun

Definition of ADVERSITY

1

bad luck or an example of this <many people came face-to-face with life-altering adversity when the stock market crashed>

Synonyms adversity, ill, knock, misadventure, mischance, mishap, tragedy

Related Words calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster; affliction, hardship, trial, tribulation, woe; distress, misery, suffering, unhappiness; defeat, failure, fizzle, nonsuccess; curse, evil, sorrow, trouble; accident, casualty; blow, body blow, disappointment, letdown, setback; circumstance, destiny, doom, fate, lot, portion

Near Antonyms break, chance, fluke, godsend, hit, opportunity, strike, stroke, windfall; accomplishment, achievement, success

Antonyms fortune, luck, serendipity

2

something that is a cause for suffering or special effort especially in the attainment of a goal <some overcame all the adversities of the Great Depression and rebuilt their fortunes>

Synonyms adversity, asperity, hardness, hardship, rigor

Related Words discomfort, inconvenience, nuisance; affliction, trial, tribulation; knock, misfortune, mishap, tragedy; bar, catch, check, clog, crimp, embarrassment, handicap, hindrance, hitch, hurdle, impediment, interference, let, manacle, obstacle, obstruction, pons asinorum, rub, shackle, snag, stop, trammel; block, chain, deterrent, encumbrance, fetter, inhibition; hump

Near Antonyms advantage, break, opportunity