Home British & World English adversary

Definition of adversary in English:

adversary

noun

One's opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute.
‘Davis beat his old adversary in the quarter-finals’
- ‘For some, these may prove to be altogether more formidable adversaries.’
- ‘He was a vigorous adversary to opponents, but he was also a very fair and honest man.’
- ‘The game with their old adversaries from Germany could prove decisive.’
- ‘Once there, he expects to be coming up against an old adversary.’
- ‘Located behind the knee, these tendons are not well exposed to an adversary facing his opponent from the front.’
- ‘Fans were delighted to hear their old adversary, Argentina, had crashed out of the tournament by failing to beat Sweden.’
- ‘The trade unions in particular looked with deep suspicion at an administration still headed by their old adversary.’
- ‘That made her much more formidable an adversary because she didn't have the usual narcissistic vanity.’
- ‘I'm playing an old adversary on Monday, and we're both making excuses already.’
- ‘Liam bumped into his old adversary in London's Camden Town recently and berated him for old time's sake.’
- ‘You must have thought you had seen the last of your old adversary!’
- ‘Military operations almost always involve an intense contest for time between adversaries.’
- ‘I will face them and show them I am a formidable adversary.’
- ‘They want nothing to do with their old adversaries, or be associated with them in anyway.’
- ‘Ross is a friend as well as an old adversary, and I feel for him.’
- ‘Nat, I know, was humbled when he was told the lengths to which his old adversary had gone to honour his name.’
- ‘The two old adversaries stared at each other across the room.’
- ‘I believe he would prove to be a formidable adversary.’
- ‘Its results depend on the opinion the opponent has of his adversary's capability to win.’
- ‘Now, once more, we faced off like the old adversaries that we were.’
opponent, rival, enemy, foe, nemesis, antagonist, combatant, challenger, contender, competitor, opposer, fellow contestant
View synonyms

adjective

‘the confrontations of adversary politics’
another term for adversarial
- ‘There is too much at stake in this relationship for either side to really push an adversary agenda with the other.’
- ‘Our legal system is fundamentally an adversary system - and this solution would betray its very nature.’
- ‘The adversary procedure followed in a court of law is not appropriate in its investigations.’
- ‘If the chief virtue of the adversary system lies in giving opposing parties a hearing, its greatest vice lies in giving those parties an incentive to silence each other.’
- ‘The original inspection process, which lasted several years, developed into an adversary process.’
- ‘It's got an adversary system that obscures the truth; trials are run by lawyers and they don't have much interest in truth and justice.’
- ‘If it ever rises to the 80% range, the current adversary relationship would have to change.’
- ‘You see under the adversary system, as I've said, the parties produce the evidence.’
- ‘In the adversary system, we depend on lawyers to bring cases.’
- ‘Cynical adversary stances are not helpful - belief is necessary.’
- ‘Winner-take-all electoral systems and adversary politics result in truth being irrelevant.’
- ‘She also focuses on the ways in which the use of the adversary method as a paradigm of philosophy limits and distorts the work of philosophers.’
- ‘It is a necessary concomitant or consequence of this particular system which is an inquisitorial system, rather than a strict adversary system.’
- ‘Amendments to the Criminal Procedure law in 1996 introduced adversary elements to the fact-finding process in criminal trials.’
- ‘For generations, Scotland has maintained an adversary culture, defining itself by its differences from England.’
- ‘You are not judges now, but advocates under this adversary system we have been discussing.’
- ‘This right is fundamental to the adversary system of justice in the Untied States.’
- ‘It is the classic adversary system which overlaps with a two-party system, and the arguments and votes are often predictable.’
- ‘Mr Chairman, in our country and the House in particular, we have an adversary system.’
- ‘The very adversary structure that put me off from litigation is now the norm in political life in general and political life is not a place for honest exchange.’