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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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
Its dual narrative concerns a set of perverse medical experiments about human consciousness performed in an early-20th-century Argentine sanitorium and, a century later, an outsider artist who carries forth the legacy of these trials in grotesque ways.
—
The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
Private insurance: perverse incentives Because of unwise regulations, private insurers also face perverse incentives.
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
This would undo the perverse incentive by which states prioritize coverage for able-bodied, working-age people instead of the poor children or disabled people Medicaid is supposed to be for.
—The Editors, National Review, 23 May 2025
There’s almost a perverse joy in refusing that contemporary television tendency to really dive into the trauma or the backstory or the mythology of a character.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for perverse
The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
Private insurance: perverse incentives Because of unwise regulations, private insurers also face perverse incentives.
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
This would undo the perverse incentive by which states prioritize coverage for able-bodied, working-age people instead of the poor children or disabled people Medicaid is supposed to be for.
—The Editors, National Review, 23 May 2025
There’s almost a perverse joy in refusing that contemporary television tendency to really dive into the trauma or the backstory or the mythology of a character.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for perverse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perverse
Adjective
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Cass fulfills his obligations in a particularly irritable way.—
Jesse Hassenger,
Vulture,
30 Apr. 2025
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One person’s fatigue is another’s back pain, is another’s migraine or irritable bowel, or long Covid, and so on.—
Jessica DuLong,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look at the film, which follows Ahmed's Ash, an off-the-grid fixer who brokers deals between whistleblowers and corrupt corporations through a message relay service that maintains anonymity.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
5 June 2025
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Sara’s friend from her secret agent days, Teresa, is also taking matters into her own hands after also losing a loved one to a corrupt system.—
Isabella Wandermurem,
Time,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Their relationship can be difficult as AM is stubborn and likes to have her way always.—
Carolyn Rosenblatt,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
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Rick McConnell said that this sounds like his mom, who is stubborn.—
Bella Waters,
Kansas City Star,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Both the city’s account and Mayor Quinton Lucas issued online apologies that night, agreeing that the post was inappropriate.—
Mike Hendricks,
Kansas City Star,
3 June 2025
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There can be a change to the list if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on another would be inappropriate.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Boulder attack suspect’s family detained The wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in the fiery assault on Jewish demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, have been detained by immigration officials, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday.—
Rebecca Morin,
USA Today,
4 June 2025
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While some brands promise heat but don’t deliver, this lives up to the hype with a fiery blast of red jalapeño and habanero chilis.—
Sabrina Weiss,
People.com,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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These systems use signals that are orders of magnitude stronger than satellite signals and can serve as a resilient backup when GPS is degraded or unavailable.—
Mariam Sorond,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
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Additionally, about 6,600 acres of degraded coastal land will be improved to provide a third buffer against coastal storms and erosion processes.—
Suzanne Wright,
USA Today,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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But Rawan is adamant that solving this will need more than just high-tech products.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
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Furious, Julian is adamant that Gabby wasn’t on the boat with Finn and Toby.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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The man, Lawrence Ray, argued that Hughes’ testimony about coercive control was improper.—
Gina Barton,
USA Today,
11 June 2025
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Tucked inside is a small but important provision: $25 million for the Department of Health and Human Services to use artificial intelligence to identify and recover improper Medicare payments.—
Ali Melad,
National Review,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Perverse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perverse. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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