perverseness

noun

Definition of perversenessnext
as in irritability
readiness to show annoyance or impatience the kind of perverseness that makes you want to snap at anyone who makes the mistake of greeting you

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for perverseness
  1. irritability
  2. perversity
  3. aggression
Noun
  • Heart attacks and strokes occur disproportionately following rejections, and rejected individuals often show symptoms that are typically associated with drug withdrawal, including anxiety, depression, crying, loss of appetite, and irritability.
    — George Loewenstein, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026
  • By day, apnea shows up as the kind of sleepiness coffee cannot fix, morning headaches, trouble concentrating and short-fuse irritability.
    — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of irritability
Noun
  • Its practice of permitting construction projects at the same time in adjoining areas, causing the most inconvenience to vehicular traffic, wins the award for most perversity.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The movie is essentially an old-fashioned story of one lad’s sentimental education, spiced up with NSFW perversity.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2026
Definition of perversity
Noun
  • On the contrary, airpower remains the most potent piece of the United States’ conventional forces, as well as its main source of both deterrent capacity and warfighting advantage against conventional aggression by hostile states.
    — Justin Bronk, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Publicly sharing Hasan’s death is unlikely to deter future acts of monstrous aggression, as Hegseth claims.
    — Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of aggression
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

perverse
perverseness
perversion
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Perverseness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perverseness. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fervid

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All