pervert
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to affect with perversion.
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to lead astray morally.
- Synonyms:
- demoralize, corrupt, seduce
-
to turn away from the right course.
- Synonyms:
- divert
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to lead into mental error or false judgment.
-
to turn to an improper use; misapply.
-
to misconstrue or misinterpret, especially deliberately; distort.
to pervert someone's statement.
-
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
-
a person who practices sexual perversion.
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Pathology. a person affected with perversion.
-
a person who has been perverted, or turned from what is right, especially to a religious belief regarded as erroneous.
verb
-
to use wrongly or badly
-
to interpret wrongly or badly; distort
-
to lead into deviant or perverted beliefs or behaviour; corrupt
-
to debase
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonpervertible adjective
- perverter noun
- pervertibility noun
- pervertible adjective
- pervertibly adverb
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”
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.
Two others were sentenced alongside Hunter after previously pleading guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.
From BBC
The rules—or lack thereof—around these blacklists don’t serve justice but pervert it.
What follows is a chorus of anecdotes, artworks and historical fragments tracing the pervasive — and sometimes perverted — roots of our everyday technologies.
From Los Angeles Times
Two other people - Emma McVie, 27, and Gary Robertson 22 - also appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh and pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.
From BBC
It’s the culture that’s skewered rather than those who adopt its perverted values.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
