adversarial
adjective
ad·ver·sar·i·al
ˌad-vər-ˈser-ē-əl 
ˌad-və-,
-ˈse-rē-
: involving two people or two sides who oppose each other : of, relating to, or characteristic of an adversary or adversary procedures (see adversary entry 2 sense 2)
an adversarial relationship
an adversarial system of justice with prosecution and defense opposing each other
Examples of adversarial in a Sentence
an adversarial system of justice with prosecution and defense opposing each other
the relationship between the president and the congress should not be adversarial if anything is to get done
Recent Examples on the Web
However, proximity matters little if an enterprise is fractured internally by the adversarial divide between Business and IT.
—
Barney Krishnan,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
The workshop’s facilitators posed a series of hypothetical adversarial actions, or vignettes, to the participants.
—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
29 June 2026
These dependencies present supply chain challenges as some of the import sources are located in adversarial or geopolitically unstable nations.
—
Aditya Jadhav,
Interesting Engineering,
26 June 2026
Several parties in the fragmented Spanish legislature would not back Feijóo, especially the separatist factions which have had a deeply adversarial relationship with the PP.
—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for adversarial
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Barney Krishnan,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
The workshop’s facilitators posed a series of hypothetical adversarial actions, or vignettes, to the participants.
—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
29 June 2026
These dependencies present supply chain challenges as some of the import sources are located in adversarial or geopolitically unstable nations.
—
Aditya Jadhav,
Interesting Engineering,
26 June 2026
Several parties in the fragmented Spanish legislature would not back Feijóo, especially the separatist factions which have had a deeply adversarial relationship with the PP.
—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for adversarial
Cite this Entry
“Adversarial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adversarial. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
adversarial
adjective
ad·ver·sar·i·al
ˌad-vər-ˈser-ē-əl
: involving two people or two sides who oppose each other
Legal Definition
adversarial
adjective
ad·ver·sar·i·al
ˌad-vər-ˈser-ē-əl
: of, relating to, or characteristic of an adversary or adversary procedures : adversary
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