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Adverse vs Rival - What's the difference?

adverse | rival |

As adjectives the difference between adverse and rival

is that adverse is unfavorable; antagonistic in purpose or effect; hostile; actively opposing one's interests or wishes; contrary to one's welfare; acting against; working in an opposing direction while rival is having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.

As a noun rival is

a competitor (person, team, company, etc) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.

As a verb rival is

to oppose or compete with.

adverse

Adjective

(er)
  • Unfavorable; antagonistic in purpose or effect; hostile; actively opposing one's interests or wishes; contrary to one's welfare; acting against; working in an opposing direction.
  • adverse criticism
  • * Southey
  • Happy were it for us all if we bore prosperity as well and wisely as we endure an adverse fortune.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=December 14 , author=Steven Morris , title=Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave , work=Guardian citation , page= , passage=He said Robins had not been in trouble with the law before and had no previous convictions. Jail would have an adverse effect on her and her three children as she was the main carer.}}
  • Opposed; contrary; opposing one's interests or desire.
  • adverse circumstances.
  • (not comparable) Opposite; confronting.
  • the adverse page
    the adverse party
  • * 1809 , , Google Books
  • Calpe's adverse height / must greet my sight

    Usage notes

    Adverse'' is sometimes confused with (averse), though the meanings are somewhat different. ''Adverse'' most often refers to things, denoting something that is in opposition to someone's interests — something one might refer to as an (adversity) or (adversary) — (''adverse winds''; ''an attitude adverse to our ideals''). ''Averse'' usually refers to people, and implies one has a distaste, disinclination, or (aversion) toward something (''a leader averse to war''; ''an investor averse to risk taking''). ''Averse'' is most often used with "''to''" in a construction like "''I am averse to…''". ''Adverse shows up less often in this type of construction, describing a person instead of a thing, and should carry a meaning of "actively opposed to" rather that "has an aversion to".

    Derived terms

    * adversely * adverseness

    See also

    * averse

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    rival

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you
  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
  • (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

    Derived terms

    * rivalry * archrival

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
  • rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions
  • * Macaulay
  • The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

    Verb

  • To oppose or compete with.
  • to rival somebody in love
  • To be equal to or to surpass another.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].}}
  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
  • * Dryden
  • to rival thunder in its rapid course

    Anagrams

    * ----