perverted 1 of 2

Definition of pervertednext

perverted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pervert
1
2
3
as in abused
to put to a bad or improper use accused of perverting the Internal Revenue Service by using it to harass political opponents

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of perverted
Adjective
Jeff is a bit of a voyeur or peeping Tom, though not in a perverted way. Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025 These were the years in which capitalism shed its pitiless light on the absurd British soul, with its deep striations of caste and station, its postcolonial taint, most of all its perverted emotional core, full of love and loathing for its own extremes of domination and servitude. Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
Verb
Murry corrupted and perverted and destroyed Katherine both as a person and a writer […] Her gifts were those of an intense realist, with a superb sense of ironic humour and fundamental cynicism. Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025 Even more poignant, however, is the Rosemary's Baby angle, where the innocence of childhood is drowned in blood and the notion that a young person reared in a loving environment should develop into a compassionate adult is perverted into unthinkable horror. Alan Bradley, Space.com, 8 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for perverted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perverted
Adjective
  • Today, Christians observe Good Friday — a day when corrupt religious and political forces crucified Jesus of Nazareth as a common criminal on a rubbish heap outside the city walls of Jerusalem.
    Peter Cook, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • First there’s Phil Reizenstein, who, during a long career plumbing the depths of Magic City jurisprudence, has represented a former telenovela actor who killed a motorist in a road rage incident, as well as a DEA agent in an investigation into corrupt activities.
    Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • In his video, Oz made at least two other claims about New York that Medicaid advocates and beneficiaries say distorted the facts.
    Ali Swenson, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Their arousal centers are distorted.
    Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 9 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Goodwill is corrupted on arrival by the modern virtue of avarice.
    Andy Andersen, Vulture, 23 Mar. 2026
  • Helberg, cast as inventor Martin Phister, opens up about their characters who are trying to be virtuous and end up getting corrupted instead.
    Marta Balaga, Variety, 21 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Kaley denied being abused or neglected, though Meta’s attorneys did show some Instagram posts about her mother screaming at her.
    Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Leah Juliett, also a survivor, still remembers the scarlet lockers at Wolcott High School where she was abused.
    Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Over that time retirement has been diminished and degraded; Social Security in particular has survived several assassination attempts.
    Trevor Jackson, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
  • But the Florida Supreme Court last month intervened and ordered advanced DNA testing on the last surviving sample from the case, a badly degraded lab slide with biological material from the jeans that Teresa McAbee wore the night she was murdered.
    Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The suit claimed David severely misrepresented the calorie and fat content of each bar, which allegedly has 400% more fat and 80% more calories than advertised.
    Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Lithgow didn’t elaborate on what had been misrepresented about Rowling’s views.
    James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Online court records show he is charged with first-degree murder dangerous depraved without premeditation.
    KC Baker, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Murdering a teenaged iconic athlete shows how deeply depraved the Iranian leadership is.
    Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • In the past, doing all the risk assessments and necessary evaluations to ensure funds are not misused, can take a year or more.
    Fatma Tanis, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
  • The Inspector General closed the final investigation in 2022, saying there was no proof Hernandez had misused her position, engaged in conflicts of interest or accepted financial incentives.
    Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Perverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perverted. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.

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