perverted 1 of 2

Definition of pervertednext

perverted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of pervert
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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
  • There, the political and commercial elites don’t shy away from murder to defend potentially corrupt schemes.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Harrowing revelations about corrupt leaders, child rape and grooming come to the fore, and a stop-clock on the back wall counts down the minutes and seconds until the play’s most paralyzing realization.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said the data was distorted by the timing of the Lunar New Year, which falls in mid-February this year after taking place in January last year.
    Anniek Bao, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2026
  • The regulatory asymmetry distorted competition and made Verizon’s devices uniquely attractive to criminals.
    Roslyn Layton, Boston Herald, 10 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • American culture will not be mocked or corrupted without consequence.
    Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Feb. 2026
  • When the media are corrupted and play with the truth regarding political and ideological agendas, democracy dies.
    Marta Balaga, Variety, 31 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Saxon had abused the woman for years, fracturing her hip and nose and causing internal bleeding, a judge found in a ruling ordering him detained pending trial.
    Ryan J. Foley, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
  • He is estimated to have abused at least 1,000 women and children over decades of secret operations, the Justice Department said.
    Lily Kepner, Austin American Statesman, 11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • The patriarch’s rage at feeling degraded in America turns the home into a war zone.
    Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 1 Feb. 2026
  • The company acknowledges that direct recycling will not replace chemical methods entirely, particularly for mixed or degraded end-of-life batteries.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Wang also misrepresented herself as holding current aesthetician, massage therapist and hair salon licenses on a loan application to the American Lending Center, the DA's office said.
    Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
  • Too often, the contributions of African Americans have been minimized, misrepresented, or erased altogether.
    Okla Jones, Essence, 1 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Trump's No Kings video was truly depraved.
    Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 20 Oct. 2025
  • DiCaprio has played disturbed and depraved individuals in Scorsese’s films before, but Killers of the Flower Moon is something different.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • And in a country where Bollywood stars and social media influencers heavily shape body image, doctors worry the drugs could be misused.
    Ayushi Shah, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
  • This term is sometimes misused to describe how easy a plant is to grow.
    Chris McKeown, Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Perverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perverted. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.

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