perverse
Americanadjective
-
willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary.
- Synonyms:
- disobedient, contumacious
- Antonyms:
- agreeable
-
characterized by or proceeding from such a determination or disposition.
a perverse mood.
-
wayward or cantankerous.
-
persistent or obstinate in what is wrong.
- Synonyms:
- headstrong, stubborn
- Antonyms:
- tractable
-
turned away from or rejecting what is right, good, or proper; wicked or corrupt.
adjective
-
deliberately deviating from what is regarded as normal, good, or proper
-
persistently holding to what is wrong
-
wayward or contrary; obstinate; cantankerous
-
archaic perverted
Synonym Usage
See willful.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of perverse
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, Middle French pervers, “wicked, unnatural,” from Latin perversus “facing the wrong way, askew,” past participle of pervertere “to turn around, overturn”; see pervert
Explanation
Something that's perverse is deviant — it's not completely acceptable, and it may be even a little strange. Your perverse sense of humor probably makes some of your friends laugh while others just look uncomfortable. Something perverse is unusual, possibly somewhat weird, and even immoral, like that time the odd kid in class announced that a love poem was really all about lovingly poisoning squirrels and no one sat next to him for a week afterwards. That kid's perspective was perverse. Perverse can also mean "stubbornly contradictory" or "perverted." The word originally meant "wicked," from the Latin perversus, "turned away or askew," and figuratively, "turned away from what is right."
Vocabulary lists containing perverse
Romeo and Juliet
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The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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"Marigolds"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You could liken it to Poe's "Imp of the Perverse," doing something for the very reason you know you should not.
From Salon • May 6, 2023
Perverse invention and rational coherence lock into each other at weird, compelling angles in his work.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 6, 2019
Dressing like an organic pickle-maker was never going to catapult you through the glass ceiling, but the Perverse Prepster?
From Slate • May 23, 2016
Perverse, obstinate, contrary, cross-grained, intractable, not amenable, in a dour sullen mood.
From BBC • Jul. 3, 2014
Was it the Imp of the Perverse that caused him to positively decline, and to persist that "Dreamland" was all he had to offer just then?
From The Dreamer A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe by Stanard, Mary Newton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
