Synonyms for adversary
ad·ver·sa·ry

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. adversary

   An enemy in private life is one who is moved by hostile feeling with active disposition to injure; but in military language all who fight on the opposite side are called enemies or collectively "the enemy," where no personal animosity may be implied; foe, which is rather a poetical and literary word, implies intensely hostile spirit and purpose. An antagonist is one who opposes and is opposed actively and with intensity of effort; an opponent, one in whom the attitude of resistance is the more prominent; a competitor, one who seeks the same object for which another is striving; antagonists in wrestling, competitors in business, opponents in debate may contend with no personal ill will; rivals in love, ambition, etc., rarely avoid inimical feeling. Adversary was formerly much used in the general sense of antagonist or opponent, but is now less common, and largely restricted to the hostile sense; an adversary is ordinarily one who not only opposes another in fact, but does so with hostile spirit, or perhaps out of pure malignity; as, the great Adversary. Compare synonyms for AMBITION.

   Synonyms:
   antagonist, competitor, enemy, foe, opponent, rival

   Antonyms:
   abettor, accessory, accomplice, ally, friend, helper, supporter

   Preposition:
   He was the enemy of my friend in the contest.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. adversary

   Synonyms:
   antagonist, foe, enemy, rival, assailant

   Antonyms:
   accessory, abettor, alder, friend, helper, assistant, ally, accomplice

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. adversary, antagonist, opponent, opposer, resisternoun

   someone who offers opposition

   Synonyms:
   obstructionist, opposer, obstructer, obstructor, opposite, antagonist, opposition, opponent, thwarter, resister

Matched Categories

1. • Person

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. adversarynoun

   Synonyms:
   enemy, foe, antagonist, opponent, adverse party

2. adversarynoun

   Synonyms:
   DEVIL, satan

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. adversarynoun

   Synonyms:
   enemy, foe, antagonist, opponent

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:1.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "adversary":

   opponent, enemy, foe, intruder, rival

Suggested Resources

1. adversary

   Song lyrics by adversary -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by adversary on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use adversary in a sentence?

1. State Mike Pompeo on Monday:

   President Trump and those of us in his national security team are re-establishing deterrence – real deterrence ? against the Islamic Republic of Iran, your adversary must understand not only that you have the capacity to impose cost but that you're in fact willing to do so.

2. Douglas London:

   Donald Trump was a difficult president to support in terms of trying to give Donald Trump the information Donald Trump needed while still protecting the way we collected it so that Donald Trump wouldn't accidentally or otherwise speak off-the-cuff and mention something that an adversary could use to track down where we had an agent.

3. Lindsey Graham:

   I think we need a read out on if there was any agreement, i don't mind meeting with our adversaries. Russia is definitely an adversary, but I want to make sure we're being informed as to what potential agreements were made and whether or not and whether or not we think in Congress it makes sense.

4. President Trump:

   Our hands are not tied as they were in The Obama administration, the Obama administration is now the policy of United States to shoot back to deter( an) adversary's cyber operations. If we could get into their network, we could destroy their computers. We could take down the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps network affecting the banks.

5. Ellen Pawlikowski:

   We can’t count on stealth to do everything for us. Stealth combined with other attributes that will allow us to deal with that threat. Speed and stealth are extremely important but also they don’t stand alone because when you are talking about air superiority it boils down to being able to act and react more quickly than you adversary can.