per|ti|na|cious /pɜː r t I ne I ʃəs/ ADJ Someone who is pertinacious continues trying to do something difficult rather than giving up quickly. [FORMAL ]
per|ti|nent /pɜː r t I nənt/ ADJ Something that is pertinent is relevant to a particular subject. [FORMAL ] □ She had asked some pertinent questions. □ [+ to ] …knowledge and skills pertinent to classroom teaching.
per|turb /pə r tɜː r b/ (perturbs , perturbing , perturbed )
1 VERB If something perturbs you, it worries you quite a lot. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] What perturbs me is that magazine articles are so much shorter nowadays.
2 → see also perturbed
per|tur|ba|tion /pɜː r tə r be I ʃ ə n/ (perturbations )
1 N‑VAR A perturbation is a small change in the movement, quality, or behaviour of something, especially an unusual change. [TECHNICAL ] □ [+ in ] …perturbations in Jupiter's gravitational field.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Perturbation is worry caused by some event. [FORMAL ] □ Agatha went up to her mistress in a state of great perturbation.
per|turbed /pə r tɜː r bd/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ , ADJ that] If someone is perturbed by something, they are worried by it. [FORMAL ] □ [+ by/at ] He apparently was not perturbed by the prospect of a police officer coming to call.
per|tus|sis /pə r tʌ s I s/ N‑UNCOUNT Pertussis is the medical term for whooping cough .
pe|rus|al /pəruː z ə l/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft a N ] Perusal of something such as a letter, article, or document is the action of reading it. [FORMAL ] □ Peter Cooke undertook to send each of us a sample contract for perusal.
pe|ruse /pə r uː z/ (peruses , perusing , perused ) VERB If you peruse something such as a letter, article, or document, you read it. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] We perused the company's financial statements for the past five years.
Pe|ru|vian /pəruː viən/ (Peruvians ) ADJ Peruvian means belonging or related to Peru, or to its people or culture. ● N‑COUNT A Peruvian is someone who is Peruvian.
per|vade /pə r ve I d/ (pervades , pervading , pervaded ) VERB If something pervades a place or thing, it is a noticeable feature throughout it. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] The smell of sawdust and glue pervaded the factory. □ [V -ing] Throughout the book there is a pervading sense of menace.
per|va|sive /pə r ve I s I v/ ADJ Something, especially something bad, that is pervasive is present or felt throughout a place or thing. [FORMAL ] □ …the pervasive influence of the army in national life. ● per|va|sive|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the pervasiveness of computer technology.
per|verse /pə r vɜː r s/ ADJ Someone who is perverse deliberately does things that are unreasonable or that result in harm for themselves. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend. □ In some perverse way the ill-matched partners do actually need each other. ● per|verse|ly ADV [usu ADV with v] □ She was perversely pleased to be causing trouble.
per|ver|sion /pə r vɜː r ʃ ə n, -ʒ ə n/ (perversions )
1 N‑VAR You can refer to a sexual desire or action that you consider to be abnormal and unacceptable as a perversion . [DISAPPROVAL ]
2 N‑VAR A perversion of something is a form of it that is bad or wrong, or the changing of it into this form. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [+ of ] He condemned the trade as morally repugnant and a perversion of natural justice.
per|vert (perverts , perverting , perverted ) The verb is pronounced /pə r vɜː r t/. The noun is pronounced /pɜː r vɜː r t/. 1 VERB If you pervert something such as a process or society, you interfere with it so that it is not as good as it used to be or as it should be. [FORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V n] Any reform will destroy and pervert our constitution.
2 PHRASE If someone perverts the course of justice , they deliberately do something that will make it difficult to discover who really committed a particular crime, for example, destroying evidence or lying to the police. [LEGAL ] □ He was charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
3 N‑COUNT If you say that someone is a pervert , you mean that you consider their behaviour, especially their sexual behaviour, to be immoral or unacceptable. [DISAPPROVAL ]
per|vert|ed /pə r vɜː r t I d/
1 ADJ If you say that someone is perverted , you mean that you consider their behaviour, especially their sexual behaviour, to be immoral or unacceptable. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ You've been protecting sick and perverted men.
2 ADJ You can use perverted to describe actions or ideas which you think are wrong, unnatural, or harmful. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …a perverted form of knowledge.
pe|seta /pəse I tə/ (pesetas ) N‑COUNT The peseta was the unit of money that was used in Spain. In 2002 it was replaced by the euro.
pesky /pe ski/ ADJ [ADJ n] Pesky means irritating. [INFORMAL ] □ …as if he were a pesky tourist asking silly questions of a busy man.
peso /pe I soʊ/ (pesos ) N‑COUNT The peso is the unit of money that is used in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Philippines, and Uruguay.
pes|sa|ry /pe səri/ (pessaries )