Word of the Day

: September 12, 2021

adversary

play
noun AD-ver-sair-ee

What It Means

Adversary is a word for an enemy or opponent.

// The adversaries met at the negotiating table again, hoping to reach an agreement.

See the entry >

adversary in Context

"Large-scale special effects and intrepid derring-do are wedded to themes of clan solidarity, compassion toward adversaries and contrition for past misdeeds in director Cate Shortland's Marvel Comics-derived action adventure." — The Arlington (Virginia) Catholic Herald, 2 Aug. 2021


Did You Know?

Adversary comes from Latin advertere, meaning "to turn toward." The vertere of advertere means "to turn" and is the source of a number of English words. Along with obvious derivatives like inadvertent and adverse are some surprises, including anniversary, vertebra, and prose (this last coming by way of a Latin contraction of a form of the verb provertere, meaning "to turn forward").



Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of adversary: _ _ t _ _ _ ni _ _.

VIEW THE ANSWER

Podcast


More Words of the Day

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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