perverse

Syllables: per·verse/pəˈvɜːs/US/pɚˈvɝs/

perverse adjective: turned aside while against something, splitting off from a thing.

Adjective

perverse (comparative more perverse or perverser, superlative most perverse or perversest)

Turned aside while against something, splitting off from a thing.
- Any man who succeeds in diverting the public taste, or in turning back a perverse stream which will flow in the direction of the ditch, leaves a mark, as it were, and cannot be overlooked by posterity.1872, The Gentleman's Magazine - Volume 232, page 367
- But in the same sense are modern Nietzsche's screams against the perverse (diverted) diffusion of these elemental pleas to reason for “reasons,” for the reasons—and place—of our fall in nonsense.2008, Harrison Mujica-Jenkins, The Ninth Hour, page 221221
Morally wrong or evil; wicked; perverted.
- Looking at Barbara one would have considerable difficulty detecting a perverse side to her nature. Her expression was demure, shy, and apprehensive. But she recognized the demonic aspect of her personality and admitted it.
- I felt most alive when I felt most perverse. At college, sleeping with boys had a perverse quality. I slept with a boy friend of one of my girl friends, and I was proud of it. I bragged about it because I had done something perverse. Another time, I slept with a man, fat and ugly, who paid me for...1967, Alexander Lowen, The Betrayal of the Body, U.S.A.: Macmillan Publishing Company, published 1969, page 13
Obstinately in the wrong; stubborn; intractable.
Wayward; vexing; contrary.
- [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across.[…]Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic of...2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
- Where this perverse sign flip occurs depends on the values of other parameters […].2023, Eric Sims, Jing Cynthia Wu, and Ji Zhang, The Four-Equation New Keynesian Model, The Review of Economics and Statistics 105(4), pp. 931--947
Ignoring the evidence or the judge's opinions.

Noun

perverse (plural perverses)

(archaic) A chiral opposite of something; a mirror image with opposite handedness.
- If two antipodal points move continuously on the sphere, they trace out what are called symmetric figures. These figures have corresponding elements equal, and are equal in area, but are not in general superposable. The one is, in fact, the perverse of the other.1884, Robert Edgar Allardice, Spherical Geometry

Verb

perverse (third-person singular simple present perverses, present participle perversing, simple past and past participle perversed)

(archaic, nonstandard) To pervert.
- This rule hath been always for the commodity of that kingdom, where as the powers have been thus by them perversed.1545, John Bale, Image of Both Churches
- And though impartial history now and then cast the alow (halo) of a martyr over an unsuccessful patriot's grave; yet even that was not always sure; tyrants often perversed history, sullied by adulation or by fear; — but whetever that last verdict might have been; for him who dared to struggle...1852 February 6, Louis Kossuth, Address delivered before the General Assembly of Ohio

perverse meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

perverse in Tamil

வக்கிர, வக்கிரமம், சபல

perverse in Marathi

perverse: विकृत vikrut

perverse in Urdu

perverse: کھوٹا khoṭā

perverse in Bengali

ইচ্ছাকৃতভাবে অন্যায়, বিপরীত কাজ করা

More languagesFewer languages

perverse in Telugu: వికృతం, వికృతమైనవి, వికృతమైనది
perverse in Malayalam: തലതിരിഞ്ഞ, വഴിതെറ്റിയ
perverse in Kannada: ಮುಸುಂಡಿ, ಎಕ್ಕಸಕ್ಕ, ಕೊಕ್ಕಿ, ಅಡ್ಡದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿದ
perverse in Sanskrit: विपरीत viparīta
perverse in Nepali: तेर्सो terso
perverse in Persian: بلاده balâde

Examples of perverse in a sentence

The diverted or perverse way is also not an easy path to walk.2013, Robert Saucy, Minding the Heart: The Way of Spiritual Transformation:
That I have loved you My most puissant disciple I am the fabric of life and death Humanity has perversed the truth2013, Winter Laake, Enter-The Vampire:
A second sun burst for an instant at first, Then glittered and glinted and twilight perversed And limbs limned in red quenched the sands of their thirst, The limbs of a human by all the Fates cursed;2014, Maurits Zwankhuizen, The Desert Rose Inn:

Synonyms of perverse

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

wayward

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of perverse

Forms of perverse

Adjective
comparative	more perverse
comparative	perverser
superlative	most perverse
superlative	perversest
Noun
plural	perverses
Verb
third-person singular present	perverses
present participle	perversing
past participle	perversed
past	perversed

Origin of perverse

From Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”).

Words formed from perverse

Words that rhyme with perverse

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about perverse

What does perverse mean?: Perverse means turned aside while against something, splitting off from a thing.
What is perverse in Tamil?: Perverse in Tamil is வக்கிர, வக்கிரமம், சபல. See Perverse meaning in Tamil.
How do you use perverse in a sentence?: The diverted or perverse way is also not an easy path to walk.
What part of speech is perverse?: Perverse can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce perverse?: Perverse is pronounced /pɚˈvɝs/ (US).

Words near perverse in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-perverse.wav.

Cite this entry: “perverse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perverse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.