adversative

American  

[ad-vur-suh-tiv] / ædˈvɜr sə tɪv /

adjective

1. expressing contrariety, opposition, or antithesis.

   “But” is an adversative conjunction.

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noun

1. an adversative word or proposition.

adversative British  

/ ədˈvɜːsətɪv /

adjective

1. (of a word, phrase, or clause) implying opposition or contrast. But and although are adversative conjunctions introducing adversative clauses

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noun

1. an adversative word or speech element

Other Word Forms

• adversatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of adversative

1525–35; < Late Latin adversātīvus, equivalent to adversāt ( us ) (past participle of adversārī to resist; adverse, -ate ¹ ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

Companies that in the past had an adversative relationship with conservation groups have begun to take actions that are more than public relations.

From Time Magazine Archive

The common relations between sentences indicated by conjunctions are coördinative, subordinative, adversative, concessive, and illative.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

"Or" here is not the adversative conjunction but an entirely different word, an archaic variant of "ere," meaning "before."

From Coleridge's Ancient Mariner and Select Poems by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Without the adversative, the colon is to be preferred: "Prosperity showeth vice: adversity, virtue."

From The Verbalist A Manual Devoted to Brief Discussions of the Right and the Wrong Use of Words and to Some Other Matters of Interest to Those Who Would Speak and Write with Propriety. by Osmun, Thomas Embly

Hence it only remains to ascribe the judgment to him as the causa principalis.—If the three angels were equals, it would be impossible to explain the adversative clause in chap. xviii.

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm

Related Words

• antagonistic