perverse
Americanadjective
-
willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary.
- Synonyms:
- disobedient, contumacious
- Antonyms:
- agreeable
-
characterized by or proceeding from such a determination or disposition.
a perverse mood.
-
wayward or cantankerous.
-
persistent or obstinate in what is wrong.
- Synonyms:
- headstrong, stubborn
- Antonyms:
- tractable
-
turned away from or rejecting what is right, good, or proper; wicked or corrupt.
adjective
-
deliberately deviating from what is regarded as normal, good, or proper
-
persistently holding to what is wrong
-
wayward or contrary; obstinate; cantankerous
-
archaic perverted
Related Words
See willful.
Other Word Forms
- perversely adverb
- perverseness noun
Etymology
Origin of perverse
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, Middle French pervers, “wicked, unnatural,” from Latin perversus “facing the wrong way, askew,” past participle of pervertere “to turn around, overturn”; pervert
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.
It said the low level of the standard benefit "creates a logical – but perverse - incentive for people to claim the health element too".
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
“The most perverse scenario … is a further equities grind sideways to slightly down, but no crash/no shocks,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026
Caring for him is so exhausting that she often retreats to “the comforting quiet” of the cell—which, in a perverse way, affords her a kind of homecoming to the country she left behind.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
“I’m not managing anyone else’s money. I don’t have any perverse financial incentives, unlike most board of directors, professional money managers, or management teams. However I do is tied to performance.”
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
A woman who took an almost perverse pleasure in flaunting the normal order.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
