as in hostile
marked by opposition or ill will
the relationship between the president and the congress should not be adversarial if anything is to get done
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Recent Examples of adversarial
The third season of The Comeback has aired over only two months, but the season’s core adversarial relationship, between the grasping desperation of the creative community and the steady encroachment of AI, has only taken on an increasingly dominant role in Hollywood’s ongoing conversations.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 11 May 2026
In adversarial testimony, Ashley, 29, repeatedly sparred with Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce, accusing her of repeating questions or asking for irrelevant details.
—Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Their announcement was a departure from what has been the more typically adversarial relationship between Mamdani and Menin, who stand on different ends of the Democratic Party spectrum and have developed mostly antagonistic positions in the city’s budget process.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
In Moscow, Hungary under Orbán had been a rare ally amid an adversarial EU.
—Rafi Schwartz, TheWeek, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for adversarial
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 11 May 2026
In adversarial testimony, Ashley, 29, repeatedly sparred with Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce, accusing her of repeating questions or asking for irrelevant details.
—Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Their announcement was a departure from what has been the more typically adversarial relationship between Mamdani and Menin, who stand on different ends of the Democratic Party spectrum and have developed mostly antagonistic positions in the city’s budget process.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
In Moscow, Hungary under Orbán had been a rare ally amid an adversarial EU.
—Rafi Schwartz, TheWeek, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for adversarial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adversarial
Adjective
-
And Roosevelt explained in his summer radio addresses of 1941 that if the Germans win the war, the United States becomes an island within the world, with hostile empires dominating most of the world’s landmass.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
20 May 2026
-
Steward filed a complaint with human resources on June 30, alleging a hostile work environment.—
Ben Wheeler
May 20,
Kansas City Star,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Robertson’s work is precisely about the negative space around authorship.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
-
Asia-Pacific equities are in the red, led lower by Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi, while European futures are pointing to a negative open.—
Leonie Kidd,
CNBC,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Adversarial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adversarial. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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