SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
adverse
adjective
Unfavorable or harmful to an intended result.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Unfavorable or harmful
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topHostile may imply active opposition; adverse conditions need not involve anyone's intent.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See adverse in use
Adverse weather forced the team to postpone its outdoor rehearsal.
A small touring theater group faced adversity when its van became unavailable just before a week of performances. Adverse weather then complicated the search for a replacement vehicle, since several drivers had already changed their plans.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license