Harmful, unfavorable, or acting against your interests. It often describes conditions, effects, or circumstances that make success harder.
From Latin *adversus* “turned against, hostile,” from *ad-* “to” and *vertere* “to turn.” Through Old French, it came to mean “unfavorable” in English.
‘Adverse’ describes things that are literally turned against you, like a headwind in a race. That’s why we say ‘adverse conditions’ or ‘adverse effects’—they’re forces pushing the other way from where you want to go.
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