Meaning

adjective marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict

adjective resistant to guidance or discipline

adjective deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper or good

originFrom Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0