perverse
/pɚˈvɝs/
"perverse" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perverse” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,766. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #22,766
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Turned aside while against something, splitting off from a thing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-perverse · perverse · English
perverse · rank #22,766 · 12 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #22,766
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH perpetuate
Nearest frequency peer: perpetuate (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “perverse”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- patched
patched
77,238 corpus weight
- perk
perk
77,237 corpus weight
- perpetuate
perpetuate
77,236 corpus weight
- perverse
perverse
77,235 corpus weight
- perverted
perverted
77,234 corpus weight
- philharmonic
philharmonic
77,232 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “perverse” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perverse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɚˈvɝs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #22,766 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perverse” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around perverse (IPA /pɚˈvɝs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #22,766 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for perverse, with forms such as "eprverse", "perevrse", and "perrverse". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "pervert", "perverted", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”). The correct English form is perverse, spelled P-E-R-V-E-R-S-E.
Definition
- 1Turned aside while against something, splitting off from a thing.
- 2Morally wrong or evil; wicked; perverted.
- 3Obstinately in the wrong; stubborn; intractable.
- 4Wayward; vexing; contrary.
- 5Ignoring the evidence or the judge's opinions.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how perverse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Any man who succeeds in diverting the public taste, or in turning back a perverse stream which will flow in the direction of the ditch, leaves a mark, as it were, and cannot be overlooked by posterity.
But in the same sense are modern Nietzsche's screams against the perverse (diverted) diffusion of these elemental pleas to reason for “reasons,” for the reasons—and place—of our fall in nonsense.
Etymology
From Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- eprverse
- perevrse
- perrverse
- perveres
- perverrse
- perversse
- pervesre
- pervrese
- pervverse
- pevrerse
- pperverse
- preverse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of perverse - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "perverse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "perverse". Here's where to go from here.
- "perverse" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pervert". View pair
- 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #22,766 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.