subversive
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of subversive
1635–45; < Latin subvers ( us ) (past participle of subvertere to subvert ) + -ive
Explanation
You might want to call someone subversive if they are sneakily trying to undermine something, from the social structure of your high school to an entire system of government. You can use subversive as a noun or an adjective without changing it one whit. Note the prefix sub, meaning "underneath," with the remainder coming from the Latin vertere, "to turn." Think about a subversive as a sneaky kind of revolutionary who tries to turn the system from underneath. Art or literature is considered subversive if it attempts to undermine the dominant values and traditions of a society.
Vocabulary lists containing subversive
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Subversive jokes about the Nazi regime gave “decent Germans a fleeting sense of dignity, of feeling that they were resisting.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
The Museum of the Moving Image, Metrograph and Light Industry are also taking part, drawing on “Film as a Subversive Art.”
From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2021
Subversive and brilliant as it was, the decision to reveal his sexuality was made on the spur of the moment.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2021
Ted Gioia’s “Music: A Subversive History” is daringly ambitious but, laments critic Robert Christgau, disdains the pleasure of “mere entertainment.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 21, 2020
Subversive kicked around in his memory and the phrase "free press."
From The Mighty Dead by Gault, William Campbell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
