Definition of "perverse" []

• Directed away from what is right or good; perverted. (adjective)
• Obstinately persisting in an error or fault; wrongly self-willed or stubborn. (adjective)
• Marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict. (adjective)
• Arising from such a disposition. (adjective)
• Cranky; peevish. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I have what I call perverse desire, which I think is key to being an artist of any kind."
• "For Mr. Kratsev, this idea - the trade-off between exit and voice - is the key to understanding what he describes as the "perverse" stability of Vladimir V."
• "For Mr. Krastev, this idea - the trade-off between exit and voice - is the key to understanding what he describes as the "perverse" stability of Vladimir Putin's Russia."