perversity

Perversity is a term that refers to a quality or condition characterized by deliberate deviation from what is considered morally right, normal, or expected, or, in sexual contexts, a pattern of interests or behaviors regarded as atypical or non-normative. The word is polysemantic and can apply to ethics, psychology, or everyday judgments about conduct. Etymologically, it comes from Latin perversus, meaning turned the wrong way, derived from per- “through” and vergere “to turn.”

Historically, in medical and psychological literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries, perversity and its cognates described sexual deviations from normative or procreative aims. The concept was popularized in part by Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis, which categorized various sexual interests as perversions. In modern psychiatry this terminology has largely been superseded by the concept of paraphilias or paraphilic disorders, with diagnostic emphasis on distress, impairment, or risk to others rather than on moral condemnation. The shift reflects a move toward descriptive rather than judgmental language about sexual interests.

In non-clinical usage, perversity can also imply obstinate or willful contrariness, or a deliberate turn away from conventional norms. Because of its historical associations with stigma and moral policing, the term is often avoided in precise or neutral discussions, with more specific terms used to describe behaviors, preferences, or personality traits.

See also: paraphilia, deviance, moral psychology.