Tried somehow to protect the silly ass from misfortune (8)
I believe the answer is:
disaster
'misfortune' is the definition.
(I know that disaster is a type of adversity)
'tried somehow to protect the silly ass' is the wordplay.
'somehow' indicates anagramming the letters.
'to protect' is an insertion indicator.
'the silly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tried' is an anagram of 'diter'.
'ass' with letters rearranged gives 'sas'.
'diter' going around 'sas' is 'DISASTER'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for disaster that I've seen before include "Tragedy of asterids" , "Extreme ruin or misfortune" , "Sudden catastrophe" , "Extreme event resulting in great loss and misfortune" , "terrible trouble" .)