pervert
Americanverb (used with object)
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perverts,
present (3rd person singular)
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perverted,
past participle, past
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perverting
present participle
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to affect with perversion.
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to lead astray morally.
- Synonyms:
- demoralize, corrupt, seduce
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to turn away from the right course.
- Synonyms:
- divert
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to lead into mental error or false judgment.
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to turn to an improper use; misapply.
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to misconstrue or misinterpret, especially deliberately; distort.
to pervert someone's statement.
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to bring to a less excellent state; vitiate; debase.
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Pathology. to change to what is unnatural or abnormal.
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to convert or persuade to a religious belief regarded as false or wrong.
noun
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perverts
plural
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a person who practices sexual perversion.
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Pathology. a person affected with perversion.
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a person who has been perverted, or turned from what is right, especially to a religious belief regarded as erroneous.
verb
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to use wrongly or badly
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to interpret wrongly or badly; distort
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to lead into deviant or perverted beliefs or behaviour; corrupt
-
to debase
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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perverternoun
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pervertibilitynoun
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nonpervertibleadjective
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pervertibleadjective
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pervertiblyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pervertsimple
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pervertssimple
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have pervertedperfect
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has pervertedperfect
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am pervertingprogressive
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are pervertingprogressive
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is pervertingprogressive
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have been pervertingperfect progressive
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has been pervertingperfect progressive
Past
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pervertedsimple
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had pervertedperfect
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was pervertingprogressive
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were pervertingprogressive
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had been pervertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pervert
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English perverten, from Latin pervertere “to overturn, subvert,” from per- per- + vertere “to turn”; (for the noun) noun use of obsolete pervert “perverted”
Explanation
To pervert something is to corrupt it. For example, you could "pervert the course of justice" by lying on the witness stand. Another common use of pervert is as a word for a person who is sexually deviant; however, people also use this word more loosely to describe anyone who seems creepy. Perverting also means changing or subverting something. A cop who breaks the law is perverting the law. A criminal who convinces other people to become criminals is perverting them. So when you think of pervert, think change — change for the worse.
Vocabulary lists containing pervert
Antigone, Lines 710–1500
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 4
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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.
See Examples For:
Tolkien, a scholar of Old English, studied the “theory of courage” found in poems such as the ancient epic “Beowulf,” redeeming what he called the “noble northern spirit” from the fascists who would pervert it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
They also all claim the state-run institution conspired with Fujitsu to pervert the course of justice by "deliberately and dishonestly" withholding evidence.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025
Among the other arrests was a 28-year-old woman from Kettering, who was released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
Acting High Court of Fiji Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentenced the 70-year-old in the capital Suva on a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
Either he’s still thinking about John the pervert or he’s remembering how hard it was to talk to Mom about anything.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
He also voices his fear that Harvard perverts and contorts young minds.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
“It inverts, or you might say perverts, the assumptions at the very foundation of the justification for the free market,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024
To me, it was a little glimpse into the way that the attention economy perverts these stories.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2024
“If terrorism and violence in the name of dissent cannot be condoned, neither can violence that is officially sanctioned. Such action perverts the legal system that alone assures the survival of our traditions,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2022
This was but the device, however, at the outset, of a single mind; and the perverts to it have been but few.
From On the Variation of Species, with Especial Reference to the Insecta ; Followed by an Inquiry into the Nature of Genera by Thomas Vernon Wollaston
The movie projects contempt for the dense from its first frame, sharing a montage of recent pop culture as a stentorian narrator worries that modern conveniences have perverted the concept of survival of the fittest.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Mr. Mladenov has offered assurances that none of these provisions will be perverted to keep Hamas in power, and he has a team including a two-star U.S. general working to prevent that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Corker also perverted another protest slogan into an attack on workers by declaring, “the whole world is watching.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
“That states do have the power to further their own agendas in very perverted ways.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
And Ben came with momentum, driven by fear as he entered the kitchen as a footsoldier bound by the rites of a perverted chivalry written into the family’s history.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
One of the former senior staff was re-arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in April but no charges have been brought.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Pamela Kaiga, prosecuting, said Pritchard had previously been prosecuted for perverting the course of justice with lies about her ex-husband.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Thompson was also found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court of two counts of perverting the course of justice.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
On Friday, South Wales Police said a man from Mountain Ash had been arrested on suspicion of preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice in connection with Harris's disappearance.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
By hiring an army of contract egg hunters, IOI was perverting the entire spirit of the contest.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
