Synonyms of perverse

perverse

adjective

(ˌ)pər-ˈvərs 

1

as in irritable

easily irritated or annoyed

how can you be so cheerful one day, and so perverse the next?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• irritable
• fiery
• peevish
• petulant
• irascible
• waspish
• passionate
• crotchety
• pettish
• grouchy
• cross
• testy
• snarky
• choleric
• out of humor
• snappish
• out of sorts
• grumpy
• raspy
• sensitive
• stuffy
• crabby
• short
• disagreeable
• prickly
• cranky
• ratty
• snippy
• contentious
• bilious
• cantankerous
• dyspeptic
• short-tempered
• quick-tempered
• snippety
• bellicose
• ornery
• querulous
• curmudgeonly
• belligerent
• pugnacious
• combative
• snarly
• fretful
• surly
• truculent
• argumentative
• snappy
• bearish
• quarrelsome
• fractious
• ill-humored
• ill-natured
• cross-grained
• off-color
• sullen
• disputatious
• sulky
• tetchy
• ill-tempered
• pouty
• scrappy
• touchy
• huffy
• hot-blooded
• thin-skinned

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• friendly
• genial
• sweet
• affable
• amiable
• outgoing
• cordial
• agreeable
• gregarious
• companionable
• sociable
• extroverted
• good-natured
• carefree
• easygoing
• relaxed
• patient
• well-disposed
• tolerant
• understanding
• stoic
• good-tempered
• obliging
• uncomplaining
• forbearing
• long-suffering
• happy-go-lucky

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• corrupt
• degraded
• sick
• perverted
• decadent
• depraved
• crooked
• warped
• degenerate
• unwholesome
• dissolute
• debased
• debauched
• loose
• vicious
• libertine
• dishonest
• rakish
• unclean
• immoral
• demoralized
• spoiled
• wicked
• reprobate
• dissipated
• evil
• bad
• unscrupulous
• unprincipled
• unethical
• rakehell
• bent
• sinful
• cutthroat
• jackleg
• iniquitous
• nefarious
• contaminated
• tainted
• miscreant

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pure
• ethical
• moral
• incorruptible
• honest
• good
• uncorrupted
• uncorrupt
• principled
• virtuous
• righteous

3

as in adamant

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• adamant
• stubborn
• steadfast
• unrelenting
• uncompromising
• obsessive
• intransigent
• mulish
• implacable
• hardened
• willful
• obstinate
• obdurate
• unbending
• inflexible
• pertinacious
• unyielding
• hard
• immovable
• bullheaded
• strict
• adamantine
• dogged
• ossified
• hardheaded
• opinionated
• headstrong
• pigheaded
• persistent
• self-willed
• relentless
• hard-nosed
• pat
• wrongheaded
• determined
• stiff-necked
• deaf to reason
• inconvincible
• inexorable
• wayward
• rigid
• severe
• self-opinionated
• contrary
• unflinching
• tenacious
• defiant
• hard-line
• stern
• iron
• narrow-minded
• anal-retentive
• disobedient
• cantankerous
• resolved
• hidebound
• ungovernable
• intractable
• uncooperative
• single-minded
• unmanageable
• mutinous
• insubordinate
• contumacious
• recalcitrant
• unruly
• bloody-minded
• hell-bent
• froward
• firm
• refractory
• stouthearted
• insurgent
• hard-shell
• exacting
• demanding
• inveterate
• invincible
• unconquerable
• set
• unregenerate
• indomitable
• confirmed
• cussed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• agreeable
• flexible
• amenable
• compliant
• complying
• acquiescent
• pliant
• pliable
• yielding
• obedient
• docile
• submissive
• tractable
• receptive
• reasonable
• willing
• accepting
• responsive
• placable
• relenting
• manageable
• slavish
• temperate
• subservient
• persuadable
• governable

4

as in inappropriate

not appropriate for a particular occasion or situation

a convicted criminal seemed like a perverse choice for a bank employee

Synonyms & Similar Words

• inappropriate
• improper
• unsuitable
• wrong
• incorrect
• unhappy
• unfit
• unfortunate
• unseemly
• irrelevant
• incongruous
• indecorous
• infelicitous
• unbecoming
• untoward
• inept
• unacceptable
• out of place
• graceless
• out of the way
• inconsistent
• inapt
• bad
• amiss
• inapposite
• naughty
• awkward
• unapt
• malapropos
• sinful
• untimely
• unseasonable
• immaterial
• inopportune
• extraneous
• incompatible
• inapplicable
• forbidden
• uncongenial
• mismatched
• irrelative
• unsatisfactory
• censurable
• blameworthy
• prohibited
• blamable
• ungraceful
• barred
• proscribed
• gauche
• disallowed
• outlawed
• misbecoming
• banned
• interdicted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appropriate
• proper
• suitable
• correct
• right
• fitting
• felicitous
• happy
• relative
• relevant
• becoming
• meet
• genteel
• timely
• decorous
• applicable
• fortunate
• fit
• opportune
• congenial
• apt
• apposite
• seasonable
• harmonious
• pointed
• permitted
• material
• compatible
• seemly
• befitting
• acceptable
• satisfactory
• pat
• adequate
• authorized
• germane
• endorsed
• fine
• sanctioned
• approved
• all right
• tolerable
• decent
• respectable
• kosher
• apropos
• exemplary
• promoted
• licensed
• supported
• allowed
• commendable
• creditable
• OK
• passable
• encouraged
• blameless
• balanced
• irreproachable
• consonant
• abetted
• congruous
• companionate

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective perverse contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of perverse are balky, contrary, restive, and wayward. While all these words mean "inclined to resist authority or control," perverse may imply wrongheaded, determined, or cranky opposition to what is reasonable or normal.

a perverse, intractable critic

When can balky be used instead of perverse?

Although the words balky and perverse have much in common, balky suggests a refusing to proceed in a desired direction or course of action.

a balky witness

When is it sensible to use contrary instead of perverse?

In some situations, the words contrary and perverse are roughly equivalent. However, contrary implies a temperamental unwillingness to accept orders or advice.

a contrary child

Where would restive be a reasonable alternative to perverse?

The words restive and perverse can be used in similar contexts, but restive suggests unwillingness or inability to submit to discipline or follow orders.

tired soldiers growing restive

When would wayward be a good substitute for perverse?

The synonyms wayward and perverse are sometimes interchangeable, but wayward suggests strong-willed capriciousness and irregularity in behavior.

a school for wayward youths

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of perverse

Anyone who stands in front of De Kooning’s urgent, sensuously greedy drawings, with their writhing contours, cacophonous colors, and perverse processes, can feel the force of that craving. — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026

After all, there’s a perverse thrill in watching characters act on selfish impulses, torment a goody-two-shoes, and go a little mad with power. — Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026

Physical limitations are a recurring factor, even as their appearance is an honest extension of the uses to which Nauman has put his body, in often deliberately perverse ways, since the works of the mid-1960s. — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Because of perverse incentives, a system intended to make information about the present and knowledge about the future more transparent has made the world more opaque and volatile. — Finn Brunton, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026