perverse
- 01 C2 Proficiency
describing a legal decision that is wrong because it ignores the facts or the law.
describing a verdict or finding that is against the weight of evidence or contrary to the judge's direction on a point of law.
Simple“The lawyer argued that the jury had reached a perverse verdict despite the evidence.”
In context“The appellate court overturned the ruling, stating that the original decision was perverse as no reasonable person could have reached such a conclusion.”
UsageUsually modifies 'verdict', 'finding', or 'decision'.
Synonyms
“Asked whether directors should wade into political debates or not, Gyllenhaal said what made cinema political was its ability to generate empathy, even for “the most corrupt, the most perverse people”.”
“Worse still, Neets on benefits are barred from full-time courses, which is perverse.”
From Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.