1
as in irritable
easily irritated or annoyed
how can you be so cheerful one day, and so perverse the next?
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
social conservatives who believe that Hollywood is a perverse world that exerts an unhealthy influence on the young
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3
as in stubborn
sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion
a fact so self-evident that not even the most perverse of opponents could deny it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in inappropriate
not appropriate for a particular occasion or situation
a convicted criminal seemed like a perverse choice for a bank employee
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of perverse
The film’s plot is thrust in motion when a series of perverse scam calls unsettles an idyllic retirement community, watching as a starry-eyed nurse (Cemre Paksoy) becomes entangled with her mysterious patient (Bruce McKenzie).
—
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2026
On social media, actors take a perverse delight in posting pictures of residual payments for amounts lower than the postage needed to mail the check.
—Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 28 Feb. 2026
The industry says classifying EWA as a loan could have the perverse effect of sending consumers back to higher-cost, risky alternatives such as payday loans or pawn shops by imposing unnecessary restrictions, such as mandatory fees, interest charges and credit reporting requirements.
—Cheryl Winokur Munk, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026
In the early years of the Soviet Union, Konstantin Vaginov wrote fiction and poetry characterized by a sense of doubleness, ambiguity, and perverse humor.
—Sophie Pinkham, The New York Review of Books, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for perverse
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2026
On social media, actors take a perverse delight in posting pictures of residual payments for amounts lower than the postage needed to mail the check.
—Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 28 Feb. 2026
The industry says classifying EWA as a loan could have the perverse effect of sending consumers back to higher-cost, risky alternatives such as payday loans or pawn shops by imposing unnecessary restrictions, such as mandatory fees, interest charges and credit reporting requirements.
—Cheryl Winokur Munk, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2026
In the early years of the Soviet Union, Konstantin Vaginov wrote fiction and poetry characterized by a sense of doubleness, ambiguity, and perverse humor.
—Sophie Pinkham, The New York Review of Books, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for perverse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perverse
Adjective
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Caroly is immediately affected, glued to the TV; John, suddenly irritable, retreats.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
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Rather than get irritable online, Medeiros did something positive about it.—
Dan Medeiros,
The Herald News,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Smuggling — sometimes by rope, sometimes with the help of corrupt jail guards — has long been a problem at the troubled federal jail, which has been plagued by violence, horrific conditions and severe staffing shortages for years.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
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No corrupt leader enriching himself and the Epstein class buddies.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Across the Rockies and beyond, many of our favorite mountains were haunted by unseasonably warm spikes and stubborn weather patterns that shut out snow for weeks on end.—
Kristen Geil,
Outside,
31 Mar. 2026
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For stubborn blockages, a plumber’s snake can help break things loose.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Making matters worse, the Blueprint is wholly inappropriate for many of Maryland’s counties.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Mar. 2026
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As City Hall contracted with Washington’s organization, emails detailing allegations of inappropriate behavior followed, The Star found.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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If left alone, the spacecraft will lose the race later this year and fall out of orbit, bringing a fiery end to its long scientific tenure.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
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This is how friends and family described 18-year-old Park Hill High School senior Tessa Walker, who was killed in a fiery crash in rural Platte County early Sunday morning.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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From there, your IT department can break down and analyze the data in any way that’s useful—tracking degradation along laptop generations, targeting particularly degraded units, identifying applications with heavy battery drain, and more.—
John Burek,
PC Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
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When a degraded grassland returns to health, the ground heaves up, as if inhaling with relief.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Conservative Republicans were adamant, however, against establishing a precedent that allows Congress during the yearly appropriations process to fund some agencies within Homeland Security, but not others.—
Lisa Mascaro,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
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However, even as the team trudges to a play-in spot rather than a top seed, Green was adamant that the Warriors’ standard of competitiveness cannot change.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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What the report found In response to the allegations in Minnesota, Abbott issued six directives to the state workforce and human services commissions to identify if Texas had a problem with improper payments, specifically with fraud.—
Jess Huff,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
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Manufacturers, though, don’t have to comply if the breakdown is the result of neglect or improper modifications made by the consumer.—
Gray Rohrer,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Perverse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perverse. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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