adversity
Americannoun
-
adverse or unfavorable fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress.
Friends will show their true colors in times of adversity.
- Synonyms:
- misery, trouble, disaster, catastrophe
- Antonyms:
- prosperity
-
an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance.
You will meet many adversities in life.
noun
-
distress; affliction; hardship
-
an unfortunate event or incident
Synonym Usage
See affliction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of adversity
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English adversite, from Anglo-French, from Latin adversitās “opposition”; equivalent to adverse + -ity
Explanation
When circumstances or situations work against you, you face adversity. Refugees from war-torn countries encounter terrible adversity. Adversity, a noun which has been part of the English language for over 800 years, comes from the Latin adversus, literally "turned against" and figuratively "hostile or unfavorable." When things seem against you — circumstances or a stroke of bad luck — you are facing adversity. Sometimes people use a form of the phrase "turning adversity into opportunity." This refers to the ability some people or companies have to take a bad situation and make it into a successful one.
Vocabulary lists containing adversity
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the knockouts, some of the European nations have also impressed when dealing with adversity.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
But on a wild Sunday night, when steady rain lashed the stadium and an electrical storm delayed kickoff by one hour, England didn’t merely take on the adversity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
If questions about his presence on the team have left him feeling slighted, Freeman says he’s fueled more by the adversity he has faced than by his recent success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
"You talk about a total team effort when we hit adversity," Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
So doth Christ in His mercy often supply courage and industry equal to adversity, that His creations might meet their travails.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Throughout our conversation, she doesn’t shy away from explaining her life’s adversities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2025
The judge added that Mr Fox had tried to "attach blame and discredit" Mr Blake and Mr Seymour during the litigation, and hold them responsible "for a range of his own life's adversities".
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2024
In this study, environmental adversities included air and water pollution, potentially hazardous or toxic sites, few recreational parks, and high traffic roads, railways or airports.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2024
“This is a story of 45 individuals providing a window through which we can observe how they endured major adversities and built a society where compassion and mercy prevailed.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
After the movie, we listened to a panel of successful people who had overcome adversities.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.