Definition of "adversative" [ad•ver•sa•tive]

• Expressing antithesis or opposition: the adversative conjunction but. (adjective)
• A word that expresses antithesis or opposition. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Each of these terms has its own adversative nuances, so you should let context guide your selection."
• "Aut was adversative: no one feared either social extremity."
• "But modern languages have rubbed off this adversative and inferential form: they have fewer links of connection, there is less mortar in the interstices, and they are content to place sentences side by side, leaving their relation to one another to be gathered from their position or from the context."