PERVERSION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does perversion mean? 

• PERVERSION (noun)
  The noun PERVERSION has 3 senses:

1. a curve that reverses the direction of something

2. an aberrant sexual practice

3. the action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use)

  Familiarity information: PERVERSION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERVERSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A curve that reverses the direction of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Context example:

perversion also shows up in kinky telephone cords

Hypernyms ("perversion" is a kind of...):

curve; curved shape (the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An aberrant sexual practice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

perversion; sexual perversion

Hypernyms ("perversion" is a kind of...):

sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "perversion"):

paraphilia (abnormal sexual activity)

anal intercourse; anal sex; buggery; sodomy (intercourse via the anus, committed by a man with a man or woman)

head; oral sex (oral stimulation of the genitals)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

it was a perversion of justice

Hypernyms ("perversion" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Derivation:

pervert (change the inherent purpose or function of something)

 Context examples 

Of these the first and second were extremely condensed, while the last is, as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The evil lies yet deeper: in her total ignorance, unsuspiciousness of there being such feelings; in a perversion of mind which made it natural to her to treat the subject as she did.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)