adverse

adjective

ad-ˈvərs How to pronounce adverse (audio)
Definition of adversenext
1
as in unfavorable
opposed to one's interests all the adverse publicity really caused the movie star's popularity to suffer

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in detrimental
causing or capable of causing harm the adverse effects of the drug are too severe to allow it to be marketed

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 adverse While homeowners will get some relief, the budget crunch due to the lower tax revenue will affect other Floridians in more adverse ways. — Abigail Hall, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026 Burke lowered the $1,000 threshold for felony retail theft charges to $300, exposing more of the county’s poor to felony convictions and their lifelong adverse effects. — Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026 Chapman said that just seconds before issuing their mayday call, flight crew asked air traffic control for permission to try and climb and escape the adverse weather conditions. — Maria Pasquini, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2026 Floodplain alterations cannot have adverse upstream or downstream effects, and earthen flood barriers, or any other interruption to the natural flow of flood water, is prohibited. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for adverse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adverse
  1. unfavorable
  2. detrimental
  3. negative
  4. harmful
  5. hostile
  6. damaging
  7. dangerous
  8. bad
Adjective
  • Cooper wanted to accept; Franklyn did not, maintaining that the terms were still unfavorable.
    — Anna Tingley, Variety, 10 Nov. 2026
  • With the appearance of Omitsu’s lover, her reputation among the villagers, which had improved, took an unfavorable turn.
    — Yasushi Inoue, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of unfavorable
Adjective
  • Cannabis impairs cognitive functioning and can be particularly detrimental to young brains that are still developing.
    — Sarah Owermohle, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026
  • So in this episode of the Outdoor Life Podcast, Sturgis will reference his decades of experience working on private land habitat as well as his time spent hunting on public ground to outline the most common and detrimental deer hunting mistakes.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of detrimental
Adjective
  • None of the five Heat players used off the bench on Tuesday finished with a negative plus/minus.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2026
  • According to MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate’s most recent Baltimore metro market report, city retail properties face elevated vacancy, negative absorption and relatively low rents, signaling challenges in some urban retail locations.
    — Courtney Bell, Baltimore Sun, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of negative
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, Meta has faced lawsuits alleging that its platforms contribute to harmful experiences for children and teenagers.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Educators aren’t prepared to supervise AI use, while students may struggle to tell which tools are safe or harmful, the release said.
    — Chaewon Chung, Sacbee.com, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of harmful
Adjective
  • Its ability to strike land targets from considerable distances allows naval forces to conduct precision attacks without moving their launch platforms close to hostile territory.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • North Korea’s constitution had been offline since March 2024, months after Kim had declared at a party plenary meeting in late 2023 that the two Koreas are separate, hostile states.
    — Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Nov. 2026
Definition of hostile
Adjective
  • In the letter, Hood emphasizes the damaging emotional toll executions take on corrections officers, medical examiners and victims’ families.
    — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Opinion polls still show right-wing parties favored to form the next government, after eight years of Sánchez’s leadership and a damaging set of corruption scandals involving figures within the Prime Minister’s inner circle.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of damaging
Adjective
  • Though Awawdeh was friendly, Jontay knew that he was connected to some dangerous associates, including the Gambino crime family in New York.
    — New Yorker, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026
  • But the proliferation of inexpensive first-person-view (FPV) aerial drones has made this incredibly dangerous.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of dangerous
Adjective
  • During that period, the number of women killed because of their gender rose by 44%, suggesting the problem is only getting worse.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Nov. 2026
  • Read my colleague Nate Freeman’s soaring eulogy for the Cybertruck, Elon Musk’s grand experiment in bad taste.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 13 Nov. 2026
Definition of bad

Browse Nearby Words

adversary
adverse
adversely
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Adverse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adverse. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All