Adversity

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Adversity \Ad*ver"si*ty\, n.; pl. {Adversities}. [OE. adversite,
     F. adversit['e], fr. L. adversitas.]
     1. Opposition; contrariety. [Obs.] --Wyclif.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Adversity is not without comforts and hopes.


                                                    --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Affliction; distress; misery; disaster; trouble;
          suffering; trial.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  adversity
       n 1: a state of misfortune or affliction; "debt-ridden farmers
            struggling with adversity"; "a life of hardship" [syn: {hardship},
             {hard knocks}]
       2: a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event; "a period
          marked by adversities"