pervert
/ [with object]- I was arrested on suspicion of corruption and perverting the course of justice.
- A high ranking police officer admitted to a court today that he is under investigation for attempting to pervert the course of justice and misconduct.
- He does this by distorting and perverting our work and our intentions.
Synonyms
- For an article to pervert someone from contemporary moral standards it must, either explicitly or implicitly, be persuasive in its effect.
- Ignorance perverts people and leads to wasted, counterproductive lives.
- Alas his sojourn into being an op/ed columnist has totally perverted him.
Synonyms
Synonyms
/Synonyms
Derivatives
pervertedly
/ adverb ...- Is it just me or could someone take that pervertedly?
- His connection with the bears wasn't just about ecology or respect, it was deeply and possibly pervertedly spiritual.
perverter
/ noun ...- When will the administration finally bestir itself to fight these perverters of our democratic system?
- In the past, it would certainly have refused such an agenda, dismissing him as a perverter of the cause.
- Meanwhile, out of fear, the ‘Great and Good’ bow before the perverter of decent standards.
perversive
Origin
Late Middle English (as a verb): from Old French pervertir, from Latin pervertere, from per- 'thoroughly, to ill effect' + vertere 'to turn'. The current noun sense dates from the late 19th century.
verse from Old English:
In his poem ‘Digging’ (1966), Seamus Heaney resolves to carry on the family tradition of digging the soil by ‘digging’ himself, not with a spade like his father and grandfather, but with a pen. The link between agriculture and writing poetry goes all the way back to the origin of the word verse, as Latin versus meant both ‘a turn of the plough, furrow’ and ‘a line of writing’. The idea here is that of a plough turning and marking another straight line or furrow. Versus is also the source of versatile (early 17th century) and version (Late Middle English), and it is based on Latin vertere ‘to turn’, from which vertebra (early 17th century), vertical (mid 16th century), vertigo (Late Middle English), and many other words such as adverse (Late Middle English), convert (Late Middle English), and pervert (Late Middle English) ‘turn bad’. Vortex (mid 17th century) is closely related. Versed (early 17th century), as in well versed in, is different, coming from Latin versari ‘be engaged in’.