perverted

1. 1
   sexualadjectivederogatory

   Of, relating to, or taking part in unusual or kinky sexual practices.

   Neighbors complained about the perverted graffiti scrawled across the bus shelter.

   She laughed off his perverted comments, but she never sat next to him again.

   Similarpervy

   Note

   Sometimes the word is a verdict more than a description: calling a person perverted condemns their sexual tastes as wrong, and it can wound. Pervy is the informal, lighter-sounding cousin, and perverty an uncommon one. In neutral writing about sexual practices, a plainer word such as unusual carries the meaning with far less judgment.

2. 2
   adjective

   Straying from accepted standards of what is right, normal, or correct.

   Only a perverted sense of justice could punish the victim instead of the thief.

   He took a perverted pleasure in watching his rivals fail.

   Similartwisted, warped, perverse, sick

   Note

   Built from pervert plus -ed, the adjective describes something that has turned off its proper course and stayed there: a perverted sense of justice, a perverted pleasure in a rival's failure. Because the word also carries a sexual meaning, a sentence about morals or reasoning should leave no doubt which one is meant.

3. 3
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of pervert.

   Critics said the senator had perverted the purpose of the law to help his donors.

   Years of unchecked power had perverted his once-honest ambitions.

   Note

   One form does both past jobs: officials perverted the course of justice, and his ambitions were perverted by power. The verb's objects are usually abstract things that were once sound, such as justice, the truth, someone's words or an honest ambition, and the idea is that something good has been bent toward a wrong end.

4. 4
   distortedadjective

   Altered, distorted, or misrepresented.

   The film offers a perverted version of history in which the villains are heroes.

   The rumor that reached the board was a perverted account of the meeting.

   Similardistorted, twisted, warped, garbled

   Oppositeaccurate, faithful

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