per·verse
Audio Help [per-vurs] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [per-vurs] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| 1. | willfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired; contrary. |
| 2. | characterized by or proceeding from such a determination or disposition: a perverse mood. |
| 3. | wayward or cantankerous. |
| 4. | persistent or obstinate in what is wrong. |
| 5. | turned away from or rejecting what is right, good, or proper; wicked or corrupt. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
perverse
To learn more about perverse visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| per·verse
Audio Help (pər-vûrs', pûr'vûrs') Pronunciation Key
adj.
[Middle English pervers, from Old French, from Latin perversus, past participle of pervertere, to pervert; see pervert.] per·verse'ly adv., per·verse'ness n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
perverse
c.1369, "wicked," from O.Fr. pervers, from L. perversus "turned away (from what is right), contrary, askew," pp. of pervertere "to corrupt" (see pervert). The L. word is glossed in O.E. by forcerred, from p.p. of forcyrran "to avoid," from cierran "to turn, return." Meaning "wrong, not in accord with what is accepted" is from c.1568; sense of "obstinate, stubborn" is from 1579. It keeps the non-sexual senses of pervert (v.) and allows the psychological ones to go with perverted.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| perverse | |
adjective | |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
perverse1 [pəˈvəːs] adjective
continuing to do, think etc something which one knows, or which one has been told, is wrong or unreasonable
Example: a perverse child
perverse2 [pəˈvəːs] adjectiveExample: a perverse child
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deliberately wrong; unreasonable
Example: perverse behaviour
Example: perverse behaviour
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Perverse
Fro"ward\, a. [Fro + -ward. See Fro, and cf. Fromward.] Not willing to yield or compIy with what is required or is reasonable; perverse; disobedient; peevish; as, a froward child. A froward man soweth strife. --Prov. xvi. 28. A froward retention of custom is as turbulent a thing as innovation. --Bacon. Syn: Untoward; wayward; unyielding; ungovernable: refractory; obstinate; petulant; cross; peevish. See Perverse. -- Fro"ward*ly, adv. -- Fro"ward*ness, n.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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