The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word SADISM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
S
A
D
I
S
M
More clues leading to the result SADISM
- Perversion is admitted by unfortunate male
- Kinky practice is seen in blue movie’s intro
- Millions pursuing deplorable lives in perverted practice
- Painstaking people enjoy this activity
- Enjoying humiliation, Iraqi leader is cancelling Russian agreement
- Cruelty making one unhappy is last thing kingdom needs
- Miserable individual’s beginning to miss cruelty
- Form of cruelty — unhappy maiden is being imprisoned
- Perversion is welcomed by unhappy male
- Perversion follows a dismal passage
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Perversion" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case perversion = sadism.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does SADISM mean?
SADISM noun- The enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation without pity.
- Achievement of sexual gratification by inflicting pain or humiliation on others, or watching pain or humiliation inflicted on others.
- (in general) Deliberate cruelty, either mental or physical, to other people, or to animals, regardless of whether for (sexual) gratification.