perversion
perversion Lexical Profile
perversion Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The alteration of something from its original, proper, or true course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.
"The defense attorney argued that the hasty verdict represented a grave perversion of justice."
Behavior, desire, or practice, especially of a sexual nature, that is considered abnormal, deviant, or unacceptable.
"Early twentieth-century psychiatric manuals classified many unconventional behaviors as forms of perversion."
Word Nuance & Usage
While often associated in everyday speech with deviant sexual behavior, in formal and legal contexts "perversion" frequently retains its broader literal sense of distorting truth or justice (as in "a perversion of the course of justice").
• Rhymes for perversion
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French perversion or directly from Latin perversionem ("a turning about, distortion"), derived from pervertere, combining per- ("thoroughly, to ill effect") and vertere ("to turn").