Adjacent Words

Perverse definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERVERSE, a. pervers'. [L. perversus. See Pervert.]
1. Literally, turned aside; hence, distorted from the right.
2. Obstinate in the wrong; disposed to be contrary; stubborn; untractable.
To so perverse a sex all grace is vain.
3. Cross; petulant; peevish; disposed to cross and vex.
I'll frown and be perverse, and say thee nay.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict; "took perverse satisfaction in foiling her plans"
2: resistant to guidance or discipline; "Mary Mary quite contrary"; "an obstinate child with a violent temper"; "a perverse mood"; "wayward behavior" [syn: contrary, obstinate, perverse, wayward]
3: deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper or good; "depraved criminals"; "a perverted sense of loyalty"; "the reprobate conduct of a gambling aristocrat" [syn: depraved, perverse, perverted, reprobate]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French purvers, pervers, from Latin perversus, from past participle of pervertere Date: 14th century 1. a. turned away from what is right or good ; corrupt b. improper, incorrect c. contrary to the evidence or the direction of the judge on a point of law <perverse verdict> 2. a. obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted ; wrongheaded b. arising from or indicative of stubbornness or obstinacy 3. marked by peevishness or petulance ; cranky 4. marked by perversion ; perverted Synonyms: see contrary • perversely adverb • perverseness noun • perversity noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person or action) deliberately or stubbornly departing from what is reasonable or required. 2 persistent in error. 3 wayward; intractable; peevish. 4 perverted; wicked. 5 (of a verdict etc.) against the weight of evidence or the judge's direction. Derivatives: perversely adv. perverseness n. perversity n. (pl. -ies). Etymology: ME f. OF pervers perverse f. L perversus (as PERVERT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perverse Per*verse", a. [L. perversus turned the wrong way, not right, p. p. of pervertereto turn around, to overturn: cf. F. pervers. See Pervert.] 1. Turned aside; hence, specifically, turned away from the right; willfully erring; wicked; perverted. The only righteous in a word perverse. --Milton. 2. Obstinate in the wrong; stubborn; intractable; hence, wayward; vexing; contrary. To so perverse a sex all grace is vain. --Dryden. Syn: Froward; untoward; wayward; stubborn; ungovernable; intractable; cross; petulant; vexatious. Usage: Perverse, Froward. One who is froward is capricious, and reluctant to obey. One who is perverse has a settled obstinacy of will, and likes or dislikes by the rule of contradiction to the will of others.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is perverse deliberately does things that are unreasonable or that result in harm for themselves. It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend... In some perverse way the ill-matched partners do actually need each other. ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf [disapproval] • perversely She was perversely pleased to be causing trouble... ADV: usu ADV with v

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

per-vurs': The group "perverse, -ly, -ness," "act perversely" in the King James Version represents nearly 20 Hebrew words, of which, however, most are derivatives of the stems `awah, luz, `aqash. The Revised Version (British and American) has made few changes. In Job 6:30, the Revised Version (British and American) "mischievous" is better for the taste of a thing, and in Isa 59:3 greater emphasis is gained by the Revised Version (British and American) "wickedness." In Eze 9:9, "wresting of judgment" is perhaps too concrete, and "perverseness" is kept in the margin (inverted in the King James Version). the Revised Version margin "headlong" in Nu 22:32 is over-literal, but in 23:21 the American Standard Revised Version margin's "trouble" is a distinct improvement.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Distorted (from the right), bad, perverted. 2. Obstinate, stubborn, wilful, dogged, mulish, untrastable, unyielding, headstrong, pertinacious, wayward, ungovernable, froward, pervicacious. 3. Cross, petulant, peevish, waspish, captious, snappish, touchy, testy, crusty, churlish, crabbed, froward, morose, surly, snarling, ill-tempered, ill-natured, spleeny, spiteful. 4. Untoward, vexatious, troublesome, inconvenient.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrant, abroad, adamant, adrift, adversary, adversative, adverse, adversive, alien, all abroad, all off, all wrong, amiss, antagonistic, anti, antipathetic, antithetic, antonymous, askew, astray, at cross-purposes, at fault, awkward, awry, bad-tempered, balancing, balky, bearish, beside the mark, bilious, bitchy, breakaway, bulky, cankered, cantankerous, captious, churlish, clashing, clumsy, compensating, competitive, con, conflicting, confronting, contentious, contradicting, contradictory, contradistinct, contrapositive, contrarious, contrary, contrasted, converse, corrupt, counter, counteractant, counteracting, counteractive, counterbalancing, counterpoised, countervailing, counterworking, crabbed, crabby, cranky, cross, cross-grained, crosswise, crotchety, crusty, cumbersome, cussed, dead against, deceptive, defective, degenerate, delusive, depraved, deviant, deviational, deviative, difficult, disaccordant, disagreeable, discordant, discrepant, dissentient, dissident, distorted, enemy, errant, erring, erroneous, excitable, eyeball to eyeball, fallacious, false, faultful, faulty, feisty, flawed, fractious, froward, grouchy, headstrong, heretical, heterodox, hostile, huffish, huffy, hulking, hulky, ill-tempered, illogical, illusory, impractical, improper, inconsistent, inconvenient, incorrect, inflexible, inimical, intractable, inverse, irascible, irregular, irritable, mean, miscreant, mulish, nefarious, negative, nonconformist, noncooperative, not right, not true, obdurate, obstinate, obstreperous, obverse, off, off the track, opponent, opposed, opposing, opposite, oppositional, oppositive, oppugnant, ornery, out, overthwart, peccant, peevish, pertinacious, perverted, petulant, pigheaded, ponderous, putrid, quarrelsome, reactionary, recalcitrant, refractory, renitent, repugnant, resistant, restive, reverse, revolutionary, rival, rotten, self-contradictory, self-willed, snappish, spiteful, spleeny, splenetic, squared off, stiff-necked, straying, stubborn, stuffy, sulky, sullen, surly, testy, touchy, ugly, unbending, uncooperative, unfactual, unfair, unfavorable, unfriendly, unhandy, unhealthy, unmanageable, unorthodox, unpropitious, unproved, unreasonable, untrue, unwieldy, unyielding, villainous, waspish, wayward, wide, wrong, wrongheaded