Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Adversity \Ad*ver"si*ty\, n.; pl. {Adversities}. [OE. adversite,
   F. adversit['e], fr. L. adversitas.]
   1. Opposition; contrariety. [Obs.] --Wyclif.

            Adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
                                                  --Bacon.

   Syn: Affliction; distress; misery; disaster; trouble;
        suffering; trial.

Source : WordNet®

adversity
     n 1: a state of misfortune or affliction; "debt-ridden farmers
          struggling with adversity"; "a life of hardship" [syn: {hardship},
           {hard knocks}]
     2: a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event; "a period
        marked by adversities"