Trivia Time

In the famous epic poem, who is the adversary of Odysseus?

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adversary

American  

[ad-ver-ser-ee] / ˈæd vərˌsɛr i /

noun

• adversaries
  plural

1. a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent; enemy; foe.

   Antonyms:

   ally

2. a person, group, etc., that is an opponent in a contest; contestant.

3. the Adversary, the devil; Satan.

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adjective

1. of or relating to an adversary.

2. involving adversaries, as plaintiff and defendant in a legal proceeding.

   an adversary trial.

adversary British  

/ ˈædvəsərɪ /

noun

1. a person or group that is hostile to someone; enemy

2. an opposing contestant in a game or sport

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adjective

1. the US term for adversarial

Synonym Usage

Adversary, antagonist mean a person or a group contending against another. Adversary suggests an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly: a formidable adversary. Antagonist suggests one who, in hostile spirit, opposes another, often in a particular contest or struggle: a duel with an antagonist.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• adversariness
  noun
• adversarial
  adjective
• nonadversarial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• adversaries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of adversary

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adversarie, from Latin adversārius; equivalent to adverse + -ary; replacing Middle English adversere, from Anglo-French

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Explanation

An adversary is an enemy or someone who opposes someone else. In tennis, you stand across the net from your adversary. Adversary is related to the word adverse, meaning "against or contrary" — so think of an adversary as someone whom you are fighting against. If you're the undefeated chess champion, you have bested every single one of your adversaries. Adversary is derived from a Latin word meaning "against."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adversary adversaries

“We are racing to build and grow our own adversary here at home, which is misaligned AI,” Turner said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The pilot said that he and another aircraft were providing adversary and tactical training for U.S. military aircrews, according to the report.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks are loose terms which tend to describe non-military methods, for example cyberattacks, sabotage or misinformation, designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Woo uses Ama’s stylus as a jousting weapon, pushing his adversary toward the sands as well.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

“We’ve been friends a long time and, yes, we’ve been adversaries as well, but most of the time we’ve been friends,” Villaraigosa told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

Potential adversaries will have to consider that any shipping container at an Australian wharf could have a Ghost Shark in it, he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

And as the West’s confidence faltered, its adversaries and its rivals only grew more assertive, building up their own wealth and their own power in our stead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Such a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats is more common among adversaries than allies.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

We still think of human disease as the work of an organized, modernized kind of demonology, in which the bacteria are the most visible and centrally placed of our adversaries.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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Related Words

• antagonist
• attacker
• competitor
• enemy
• foe
• opponent
• rival

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