adj
adverse
AD-vuhs
adj
1
Unfavorable or harmful; working against someone's interests.
"The medication can cause adverse side effects in some patients."
"Adverse weather conditions delayed the flight for hours."
How to Use Adverse
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishBad, harmful, or working against you.
Common mistake
Adverse describes conditions or effects ("adverse reaction"); averse describes a person's feelings ("averse to risk"). They're easy to swap by mistake.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
adverse effects
adverse conditions
adverse reaction
Word Forms
more adverse comparative, adverser comparative, most adverse superlative, adversest superlative
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The medication can cause _____ side effects in some patients.
Etymology
From Old French avers, from Latin adversus, "turned against" — from ad- ("to") plus vertere ("to turn").
Antonyms
Rhymes for adverse
verse
averse
inverse
reverse
diverse
immerse
universe
converse
perverse
disperse
traverse
multiverse
See all rhymes for adverse →