adversative.

Expressing opposition or contrast between statements or ideas.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• adversative conjunction
• adversative relation

On the page

The adversative conjunction but changes the direction of the sentence.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: contrast. Commonness: uncommon.