perverse

C2 Topic:Ethics & Social Judgment

US /pɚˈvɝs/ UK /pəˈvɜːs/ See IPA manual

Freq #16461

Meanings

1

adj
Deliberately behaving in a way that is unreasonable or contrary to what is expected.

He took a perverse pleasure in refusing every sensible suggestion.
2

adj
Morally wrong, twisted, or unnatural.

The film explores the perverse mind of a cold-blooded killer.
3

adj
Stubbornly resistant to guidance, advice, or discipline.

Out of sheer perverse defiance, the child did the exact opposite of what he was told.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · deliberately behaving in a... contrary obstinate wayward

2 adj · morally wrong, twisted, or... depraved perverted

More cross froward intractable petulant stubborn ungovernable untoward vexatiousvexing

Opposites

amenable innocent tractable

Word family

Forms Perversely

Derived forms perverbperverselyperverseness perversityperversivepolymorph-perversepolymorphous-perverseunperverse

Etymology

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

*wert- Proto-Indo-European perverse Middle English pervers Old French perversum Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# perverse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /pɚˈvɝs/
**IPA (UK):** /pəˈvɜːs/
**Frequency rank:** 16461

## Meanings
1. Deliberately behaving in a way that is unreasonable or contrary to what is expected.
2. Morally wrong, twisted, or unnatural.
3. Stubbornly resistant to guidance, advice, or discipline.

## Examples
- He took a perverse pleasure in refusing every sensible suggestion.
- The film explores the perverse mind of a cold-blooded killer.
- Out of sheer perverse defiance, the child did the exact opposite of what he was told.

## Synonyms
- contrary
- cross
- froward
- intractable
- petulant
- stubborn
- ungovernable
- untoward
- vexatious
- vexing
- wayward

## Antonyms
- amenable
- innocent
- tractable

## Derived Forms
- perverb
- perversely
- perverseness
- perversity
- perversive
- polymorph-perverse
- polymorphous-perverse
- unperverse

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *wert-
- Root: perverse
- Root: pervers
- Root: perversum

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

## AI Etymology
Perverse is from Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *wert- (Proto-Indo-European), perverse (Middle English), pervers (Old French), and perversum (Latin). Current senses include deliberately behaving in a way that is unreasonable or contrary to what is expected and morally wrong, twisted, or unnatural. The wider family includes derived forms such as perverb, perversely, perverseness, perversity, and perversive.

## Topics
- Ethics & Social Judgment

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perverse

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