- a willful tendency or determination to go counter to what is expected or desired, sometimes for no apparent reason; contrariness:On Thanksgiving, out of sheer perversity, he brought up a topic that was almost taboo for his family.
- the quality of being, or having an effect, exactly contrary to what is expected or desired: The administration was slow to acknowledge the perversity of their welfare reform, which has given the underemployed an incentive to become unemployed.
- persistence or obstinacy in what is wrong:She again rejected her parents' advice with self-defeating perversity.
- a turning away from or rejection of thoughts and deeds one knows are right, good, or proper; wickedness or corruption: The preacher lamented the perversity of mankind that began in the Garden of Eden.
- an instance of willful contrariety, obstinacy, or wickedness, or an outcome directly opposite to one’s intentions or expectations: One of the perversities of the system is that the worse one’s crime in one’s home country, the more likely one is to gain asylum.
- the quality or state of being perverse
- a perverse action, comment, etc
