Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or characteristic of an adversary; involving antagonistic elements.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Characteristic of, or in the manner of, an adversary; combative, hostile, opposed

Etymologies

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Examples

  • SWEENEY: And what's brought about the change in this evolvement of what you call adversarial journalism in Egypt?

    CNN Transcript Oct 12, 2007 2007

  • The former DOJ lawyers advocated for a crime to be committed, The current DOJ lawyers advocated for the defense in adversarial proceedings.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » More on Liz Cheney 2010

  • Speaking in adversarial tone about the the post and duty of President may gain you the staunch support of the Republican base in your goal to clinch the party Presidential normination; however, such rhetorics while common in the political arena, will push away the moderate voters.

    Romney accuses Obama of not protecting troops 2009

  • Apple had to break Microsoft's file-formats to give Numbers, Pages and Keynote the ability to read Office files -- they're enthusiastic participants in "adversarial compatibility."

    Boing Boing 2007

  • Without directly referring to union concerns over possible job cuts in the public service, Moleketi called on the conference to shy away from what she described as adversarial bargaining.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2001

  • “But the idea that we’re somehow adversarial is ludicrous.”

    Pink is the New Blog | Everybody's Business Is My Business » Blog Archive » Sarah Jessica Parker Does ‘Marie Claire’ Magazine 2010

  • In 2010, police-involved shootings generally occurred in one of three situations: animals on the attack, unintentional discharge and what the NYPD calls "adversarial conflict" shootings, or incidents in which police fire at people armed or believed to be armed.

    Police Shootings Fall Sean Gardiner 2011

  • Because the relationship was from the outset defined as adversarial, this affected the natural process of mutual co-operation and cultural exchange, in other words, prevented the nurturing of a symbiotic relationship that would ultimately have led to possible cultural integration.

    Statement To The Afrikanerbond 1999

  • Because the relationship was from the outset defined as adversarial, this affected the natural process of mutual co-operation and cultural exchange, in other words, prevented the nurturing of a symbiotic relationship that would ultimately have led to possible cultural integration.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1999

  • Speaking with a dozen vets in an occasionally emotional roundtable discussion in South Carolina Friday, the GOP presidential contender sympathized with the service members' difficulties obtaining treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which one vet described as "adversarial." privatizing Medicare, suggested that maybe giving wounded warriors an outside option would force VA health bureaucrats to be a little more responsive.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

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