perversity
perversity Lexical Profile
perversity Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A deliberate desire to behave in an unreasonable, stubborn, or unacceptable way; contrariness.
"Out of sheer perversity, he refused to take the advice that everyone knew would solve the problem."
The quality of being illogical, self-contradictory, or counterintuitive in nature or outcome.
"The historian noted the sheer perversity of a policy that ended up harming the exact communities it was designed to protect."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Perversity' usually refers to a stubborn or deliberate inclination to act in a contrary or unreasonable way, whereas 'perversion' typically denotes the distortion or corruption of something from its original course, or abnormal sexual behavior.
• Rhymes for perversity
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French 'perversité', from Latin 'perversitas', derived from 'perversus' ('turned the wrong way' or 'awry'), the past participle of 'pervertere' ('to turn thoroughly' or 'overthrow').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.