AVERSE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Averse

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/əvˈərs/ Listen

adjective

Averse adj.

Turned away or backward. (Obs.) "The tracks averse a lying notice gave, And led the searcher backward from the cave."

Having a repugnance or opposition of mind; disliking; disinclined; unwilling; reluctant. "Averse alike to flatter, or offend." "Men who were averse to the life of camps." "Pass by securely as men averse from war." Note: The prevailing usage now is to employ to after averse and its derivatives rather than from, as was formerly the usage. In this the word is in agreement with its kindred terms, hatred, dislike, dissimilar, contrary, repugnant, etc., expressing a relation or an affection of the mind to an object.

Synonyms: Averse, Reluctant, Adverse. Averse expresses an habitual, though not of necessity a very strong, dislike; as, averse to active pursuits; averse to study. Reluctant, a term of the of the will, implies an internal struggle as to making some sacrifice of interest or feeling; as, reluctant to yield; reluctant to make the necessary arrangements; a reluctant will or consent. Adverse denotes active opposition or hostility; as, adverse interests; adverse feelings, plans, or movements; the adverse party.

verb

Averse v. t. & v. i. To turn away. (Obs.)

See images of 'Averse'

Etymology of 'Averse'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Averse" Quotes from Famous Books

... consequences of International Socialism, go no further than to cast their votes for the party candidates. For would it be fair to except no others from condemnation, for among the dues-paying members of the party are many who are extremely averse to the system of loose morals that their comrades propose to substitute for the monogamous form of marriage ...

— The Red Conspiracy • Joseph J. Mereto

... more subtly implied. As to this, it is well to remember that criticism changes its canons with the years and that Hawthorne simply adapted himself (unconsciously, as a spokesman of his day) to contemporaneous standards. His audience was less averse from the principle that the artist should on no account usurp the pulpit's function. If the artist-preacher had a golden mouth, it was enough. This has perhaps always been the attitude of the mass ...

— Masters of the English Novel - A Study Of Principles And Personalities • Richard Burton

... that nothing could save the country from revolution but a remedy at once bold and dangerous. He advised the regent to convoke the states-general, and declare a national bankruptcy. The Duke de Noailles, a man of accommodating principles, an accomplished courtier, and totally averse from giving himself any trouble or annoyance that ingenuity could escape from, opposed the project of St. Simon with all his influence. He represented the expedient as alike dishonest and ruinous. The regent was of the same opinion, and this desperate remedy ...

— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds • Charles Mackay

... next superseded them by sixteen men, chosen from the dregs of the plebeians, who assumed the title of Riformatori. This new Monte de' Sedici or de' Riformatori showed much integrity in their management of affairs, but, as is the wont of red republicans, they were not averse to bloodshed. Their cruelty caused the people, with the help of the surviving patrician houses, together with the Nove and the Dodici, to rise and shake them off. The last governing body formed in this diabolical five-part fugue of crazy statecraft ...

— Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) • John Addington Symonds

... conversation cold and hard, If the choice in my power were, To lawless love I should prefer— And to these letters and these tears. For visions of my childish years Then ye were barely generous, Age immature averse to cheat— But now—what brings you to my feet?— How mean, how pusillanimous! A prudent man like you and brave ...

— Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] - A Romance of Russian Life in Verse • Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin

More quotes...