🇬🇧🇨🇳 adversary - 对手 : English Lesson

Meaning of "adversary" ("对手"), detailed definition, and a short video lesson below.

An adversary is a person or team that is trying to beat you in a game, contest, or challenge. They are not your enemy in real life; they are just the ones you are competing against at that moment, like the other team in a soccer match.

Watch and listen to this English flashcard to understand the word in more detail, with an easy example sentence.

During chess club, my fiercest adversary was a second grader who kept saying “checkmate” before I even moved.

When I tried to eat healthy, my strongest adversary was a cupcake that kept staring at me from the counter.

During the spelling bee, my toughest adversary was a quiet kid who could spell “pterodactyl” without blinking.

The alarm clock became my daily adversary, bravely dragging me out of bed against my will every morning.

In old stories about knights, an adversary was the knight you had to duel, but in my house it’s the Brussels sprout on the plate.

On the chessboard, she met her adversary across the table. Her adversary tapped the clock, calm and steady. Her thoughts raced as her adversary lifted a knight, eyes fixed. The crowd leaned in; she found a quiet move, trapped her adversary and laughed with relief. Her adversary nodded, accepting the loss.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

Expanding your English vocabulary is one of the best ways to improve your pronunciation, spelling, and confidence in English. Watch the video above to memorize the word, understand its meaning, and see example sentences in action. Discover related words to grow your vocabulary naturally. Add words to your playlist for stress-free, effective learning—anytime, anywhere! Watch, learn, repeat.