perverse

(pər-vûrs', pûr'vûrs')
adj.

1. Directed away from what is right or good; perverted.
2. Obstinately persisting in an error or fault; wrongly self-willed or stubborn.
3. 1. Marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict.
   2. Arising from such a disposition.
4. Cranky; peevish.

[Middle English pervers, from Old French, from Latin perversus, past participle of pervertere, to pervert. See pervert.]

perversely per·verse'ly adv.
perverseness per·verse'ness n.

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1. Perverse and perverted, both derived from the Latin root pervertere 'to turn away' (from what is normal or correct), are easily confused. Perverse means 'stubbornly unreasonable' (usually of actions or circumstances but also of people):

Amazingly, perversely, and rather to her regret (a flat battery would have been a cast-iron excuse to abort the visit) the engine fired—David Lodge, 1988.

It would be perverse of him not to be pleased, but Matthiesson feels the plaudits are often misplaced—Sunday Herald, 2002.

Perverted means 'departing from right opinion or conduct' and is commonly used with reference to abnormal or deviant sexual behaviour:

I've seen blokes in hot countries go clean round the oojar because of the perverted practices of native women—Brian Aldiss, 1971.

2. Pervert is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (= a person who is sexually perverted) and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (= to corrupt, lead astray).

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adjective

1. Utterly reprehensible in nature or behavior: corrupt, degenerate, depraved, flagitious, miscreant, rotten, unhealthy, villainous. See clean/dirty, good/bad.
2. Tenaciously unwilling to yield: bullheaded, dogged, hardheaded, headstrong, mulish, obstinate, pertinacious, pigheaded, stiff-necked, tenacious, willful. See resist/yield.
3. Given to acting in opposition to others: balky, contrarious, contrary, difficult, froward, impossible, ornery, wayward. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, support/oppose.

adj

Definition: mean, ornery; troublesome
Antonyms: agreeable, compliant, cooperative, happy, nice, reasonable, willing

IN BRIEF: Inclined to be opposed to what is expected or requested; contrary. Also: Corrupt or directed toward evil or depraved behavior.

The perception of a comic is a tie of sympathy with other men, a pledge of sanity, and a protection from those perverse tendencies and gloomy insanities in which fine intellects sometimes lose themselves. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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For a list of words related to perverse, see:

• Bad, False, Evil, Insincere, or Dishonest
• Agitation, Abnormality, and Instability - perverse: (adj) obstinately unreasonable, willful, or evil

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See words rhyming with "perverse."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Perverse.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - fordærvet, forstokket, urimelig

Nederlands (Dutch)
pervers, tegendraads, slecht, tegen bewijs of advies van rechter in

Français (French)
adj. - pervers, illogique, contraire

Deutsch (German)
adj. - pervers, verstockt

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - διεστραμμένος, φαύλος, ανώμαλος, βιτσιόζικος

Italiano (Italian)
perverso, avverso, contrario

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - perverso, obstinado

Русский (Russian)
извращенный, искаженный, капризный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - perverso, terco, contumaz, adverso

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - pervers, motsträvig, fördärvad, bakvänd, förhärdad

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
乖张的, 错误的, 倔强的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 乖張的, 錯誤的, 倔強的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 심술궂은, 성마른, 뒤틀어진

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - つむじ曲がりの, ひねくれた, 正道を外れた, 邪悪な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) منحرف, فاسد, شرير, معاكس‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮סוטה, מתעקש לנהוג לא כשורה, לא הגיוני, מנוגד, מסולף, נלוז, עיקש, רע, עצבני, סורר, מנוגד לעדויות או להנחיית השופט (פסק-דין)‬

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