| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints
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| § 13. adverse / averse |
| Who isn’t averse to getting adverse reactions to their ideas? Averse normally refers to people and means “having a feeling of distaste or aversion,” as in As an investor I’m averse to risk-taking. People sometimes mistakenly slip in adverse for averse in these constructions with to. But adverse normally does not refer to people, rather to things that are antagonistic or contrary to someone’s interests. Thus we say We’re working under very adverse (not averse) circumstances and All the adverse (not averse) criticism frayed the new mayor’s nerves. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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