ADVERSARIES Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

adversaries

noun

Definition of adversaries next

plural of adversary

as in enemies

one that is hostile toward another our old cat seemed to consider the new kitten an adversary

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in opponents

one that takes a position opposite another in a competition or conflict our adversaries in tomorrow's meet are from one of the top schools in the league

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of adversaries The move threatens to raise tensions between regional adversaries in a country that is still recovering from a civil war that stymied attempts to liberalize one of Africa’s biggest economies. —

Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 22 Apr. 2026 Prosecutors accuse the Ketchersides of running a prostitution enterprise that relied on help from law enforcement and was used to target political adversaries. —

Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2026 Analysts also say the open ocean is a safer place for the US Navy to make interdictions, with fewer neutral vessels nearby and no land masses to restrict maneuverability or conceal adversaries, as may be the case in and around the Persian Gulf. —

Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026 During Arctic Dolphin, a multinational NATO force of frigates, helicopters and patrol aircraft scoured the Norwegian Sea in pursuit of two submarines — one Norwegian, one German — posing as adversaries. —

Alan Crawford, Bloomberg, 20 Apr. 2026 Retaliatory homicides of gang adversaries have spasmed for six years in Fort Worth, at times creating a sorrowful rhythm of tit-for-tat killings. —

Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2026 The 2020s have been a decade of compounding American institutional failure — a pandemic, political rupture, an affordability crisis, student loan servicers treated as adversaries, a healthcare system that bankrupts the sick, and a growing sense that the system is not working as advertised. —

Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2026 European and Asian allies, cut out of decision-making before the war began, have been left competing with one another for scarce energy deliveries, with some turning to America's adversaries for supplies. —

Eyck Freymann, Time, 17 Apr. 2026 The deadline has prompted security engineers to focus preparations to ward off harvest-now-decrypt-later (HNDL, and also store now, decrypt later) threats, in which adversaries squirrel away encrypted data flowing over the Internet with the plan of decrypting it on Q-Day—the date a CRQC arrives. —

Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for adversaries

Noun

In large part because the only feeling more satisfying than defeating your enemies is that of defeating your friends.

— Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2026
Nematodes and aphids, the two enemies of summer gardens, will stay away from your lettuce thanks to marigolds, but there's one more insect benefit.

— Heather Bien, The Spruce, 24 Apr. 2026