Definition of "perversity" [per•ver•si•ty]

• The quality or state of being perverse. (noun)
• An instance of being perverse. (noun)

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.

• "The ultimate end of the relentless pursuit of perversity is probably something like the world of Charles Stross's Glasshouse, a novel depicting a post-singularity society that must be one of the most miserable and monotonous places I have ever read about."
• "There is, as Yeats reminded us, a certain perversity here: People who actually know something are more likely to be fairly tentative and circumspect, while people ill-informed enough to think everything is quite simple will be confident they know all they need to."
• "But the perversity is not limited to developing economies."