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All words

noun

adversity

CEFR B2

a state of misfortune or affliction

In a sentence

Six example sentences with adversity, each labelled with its topic.

  • Three injured starters and a nine game losing run was adversity the young squad had never faced together before.

    Basketball

  • The colony met adversity in its first winter: the harvest failed, the wells froze, and the supply ship never arrived.

    History

  • The novel follows one family through decades of adversity, from the mill closing to the flood that took their house.

    Literature

  • Researchers found that children who met adversity with one steady adult nearby fared far better than those who faced it alone.

    Psychology

  • Seneca wrote that adversity tests a person the way fire tests gold, revealing what was there all along.

    Philosophy

  • Two years of adversity, with a failed launch and a lost lead investor, taught the founders to spend slowly.

    Startups

Study adversity until you keep it

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Found in these word lists

Found in 3 published word listsRecognized

Each source is a published word list that contains adversity. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

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