How to Use perverse in a Sentence

perverse

adjective
  • Is this some kind of perverse joke?
  • His friends all enjoy his perverse sense of humor.
  • She has a perverse fascination with death.
  • He seems to take perverse pleasure in making things as difficult as possible.
  • This makes sense in a perverse way.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2026
  • The art world had been caught in Beecroft’s perverse taboo beam.
    — Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 20 Apr. 2026
  • What perverse delights will week 2 bring?
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Apr. 2026
  • For them, theft is a kind of perverse virtue signaling.
    — Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 23 Apr. 2026
  • There was a time when those of us who live here took a kind of perverse pride in the brutal heat.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 18 Mar. 2026
  • That’s also the most perverse aspect of the film.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Court records also show that over time, the demands in the hoax calls grew more perverse.
    — Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 5 May 2022
  • In a perverse way, such encroachments make sense.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Suffering in bed might look strange, even perverse.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
  • Getting rid of that set of perverse incentives would be a good idea.
    — Ivan Oransky, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2023
  • This is a perverse, painful way to deal with such a critical issue.
    — Apratim Gautam, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2022
  • Even perverse decisions will not take you too far from the main plotline.
    — The Economist, 28 June 2018
  • One is ignorance, and the risk of perverse outcomes that flows from it.
    — The Economist, 4 Nov. 2017
  • Hypocrisy is, in its own perverse way, an acknowledgment of our ideals.
    — Shadi Hamid, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Is this healthy jeopardy or a perverse reward for failure?
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • Still, in a perverse way, it's been an impressive coaching job.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2021
  • For him there's nothing perverse in indulging in this primeval delight.
    — Thomas Page, CNN, 30 May 2017
  • But the series doesn’t treat death with the perverse glee of a cheesy ’90s hit — at least not yet.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2021
  • This is part of the book’s perverse brilliance, its sense of good old-fashioned modernist fun.
    — Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Some of them are doing it out of a perverse desire to make a difference in the world.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 7 July 2022
  • In a perverse sense, this chaotic history has turned out to be something of a boon.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 6 July 2018
  • Many of the bartenders seemed to take a kind of perverse pleasure in denying his request.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 13 June 2026
  • But maybe Augustine’s purpose is to cheer us up in a perverse way.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 23 Dec. 2020
  • In a perverse way, the rise in numbers is just what the Roman lab is looking for.
    — Eric J. Lyman, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2020
  • Patten said the officers seemed to take a perverse pleasure in such abuse.
    — Elizabeth Leland and Gavin Off, charlotteobserver, 31 May 2017
  • Once a recall makes the ballot, the rules are even more perverse and less democratic.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perverse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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