as in irritability
readiness to show annoyance or impatience
a certain coworker's habitual perversity makes him unpleasant to be around
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Recent Examples of perversity
For me, there’s always the perversity of getting on a trendy bandwagon and just liking it for the irony.
—
Marc Malkin, Variety, 14 Oct. 2025
Here, Henkel leans into the inherent perversity that lingered in the sequels but has rarely been effectively employed since Hooper’s original.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
The perversity of government stakes in private companies is made even clearer by other Washington antics.
—Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Actions matter, not words that, in their perversity, made matters worse.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
Marc Malkin, Variety, 14 Oct. 2025
Here, Henkel leans into the inherent perversity that lingered in the sequels but has rarely been effectively employed since Hooper’s original.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
The perversity of government stakes in private companies is made even clearer by other Washington antics.
—Clyde Wayne Crews Jr, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Actions matter, not words that, in their perversity, made matters worse.
—Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perversity
Noun
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Symptoms include irritability and other mood changes, fatigue and trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, neck pain, and hyperactivity.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
4 Nov. 2025
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But for some people, the supplement has been linked to various side effects including headaches, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, stomach aches, confusion or disorientation, tremors, low blood pressure, irritability, mild anxiety and depression.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The flame-wielder is a tough match for Mecha Man, necessitating some extrajudicial aggression as Robert lops off two of his opponent’s fingers with a beam saber.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
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What's more, the researchers were surprised to find no evidence of the spiders' usual cannibalistic aggression.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Just nothing, not dictating at the point of attack, no aggressiveness to it at all.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
25 Oct. 2025
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Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness in the Gleason grading system, which ranges from 6 to 10, with 10 being the most aggressive.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Perversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perversity. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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