subversive

American  

[suhb-vur-siv] / səbˈvɜr sɪv /

adjective

1. 

   Also subversionary tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system, especially a legally constituted government or a set of beliefs.

   Synonyms:

   destructive, seditious, treacherous, traitorous

---

noun

• subversives
  plural

1. a person who adopts subversive principles or policies.

subversive British  

/ səbˈvɜːsɪv /

adjective

1. liable to subvert or overthrow a government, legally constituted institution, etc

---

noun

1. a person engaged in subversive activities, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countersubversive
  noun
• nonsubversiveness
  noun
• subversiveness
  noun
• subversivism
  noun
• unsubversiveness
  noun
• nonsubversive
  adjective
• self-subversive
  adjective
• unsubversive
  adjective
• nonsubversively
  adverb
• subversively
  adverb
• unsubversively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• subversives
  plural

---

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subversive subversives

Now comes Good Hang, the hit podcast that sends her straight into listeners’ ears without a shred of armor from a fictional character, just a voice that bounds from joyful to subversive to sincere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

A subversive, funny new show: HBO’s new Sunday night series Lanterns is the spiritual successor to Watchmen: a superhero show for people who don’t think they like superhero shows.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Years before “Barbie” stormed movie houses, Elle was the subversive answer to whether a woman’s love of makeup, pastel colors, skirts and heels negated her feminism.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

It alleges French support for "subversive networks and an intent to marginalise" Burkina Faso on the international stage.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

A handful of other men were also interested, and the questions were many and good when Clevinger and the subversive corporal finished and made the mistake of asking if there were any.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

In the authorities’ war against perceived subversives, it would be years before it became clear how brazenly they had cheated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

These Super Glue subversives have been derided as publicity-seeking Philistines and hailed as martyrs for a vital cause.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2022

Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the F.B.I. files in this collection monitor writers considered by the government to have been subversives.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2018

Americans worked themselves into a tizzy over the putative threat posed by small numbers of homegrown subversives.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2018

"McCarthyism" became a catchphrase for the hunt for communist subversives, a frenzy that would engulf the United States for the rest of the 1950s.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• incendiary
• riotous

---