What does adversarial mean?
Word: Adversarial
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Adversarial means involving two sides that oppose each other, like rivals or enemies.
Synonyms: hostile, opposing, antagonistic, confrontational
Antonyms: friendly
How do you spell adversarial?
Syllables: ad - ver - sar - i - al
Tricky part: The ending is ial: students who drop the i write adversarel or adversaral.
Watch out for: adversarel, advarsarial, adversaryal
Memory tip: Think of a trial: courts with an adversarial system hold trials, and both words end in ial.
Adversarial in a sentence
Example 1: The two shopkeepers had an adversarial relationship and never spoke to each other.
Example 2: The debate turned adversarial when both teams kept interrupting.
Example 3: Our coach wants friendly, not adversarial, matches during practice.
Fun Fact
Courts in England, the USA and many other countries follow an adversarial system, in which lawyers for two sides argue their case before a neutral judge, and sometimes a jury, who decide.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
adversarial
a) combative
b) critical
c) cooperative
d) competitive
Show answer
c) cooperative. Cooperative people work together instead of against each other.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Relations between the two clubs grew adverserial after a row over the shared ground.
a) clubs
b) adverserial
c) shared
d) ground
Show answer
b) adverserial. The middle is sar, the same as in adversary.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sradvaelira
a) adversarial
b) adversity
c) universal
d) adverbial
Show answer
a) adversarial. Adverbial has a b and no s, adversity ends in ty, and universal needs a u and an n.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In an adversarial discussion, people ____.
a) argue against each other
b) agree on everything
c) say nothing at all
d) take turns to sing
Show answer
a) argue against each other
2. Which match would you expect to be adversarial?
a) a coaching class for beginners
b) a friendly game between cousins
c) a final between bitter rivals
d) a practice drill for one team
Show answer
c) a final between bitter rivals
