subversion
Americannoun
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an act or instance of subverting.
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the state of being subverted; destruction.
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something that subverts or overthrows.
noun
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the act or an instance of subverting or overthrowing a legally constituted government, institution, etc
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the state of being subverted; destruction or ruin
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something that brings about an overthrow
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of subversion
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin subversiōn- (stem of subversiō ) an overthrowing. See sub-, version
Explanation
Subversion means overthrowing something, like a government or law, or it can mean corrupting someone’s personal morals, like making a vegetarian eat bacon by tricking her. The Latin root subvertere means “to turn from below,” and when you turn something on its head in a sneaky way, that’s subversion. Imagine digging a hole in the ground, then covering the hole with a layer of sticks and leaves. When someone walks on it, they fall in. That’s the basic idea of subversion, attacking from below. People often use subversion to take down a corrupt government, and acts of subversion are a powerful way to protest injustice.
Vocabulary lists containing subversion
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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This Week in Words: October 1 - 6, 2017
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My Brother Sam is Dead
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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.
See Examples For:
Then in 2001, he was imprisoned for three years for "inciting subversion of state power".
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Dong was eventually jailed for "inciting subversion" and "crossing the national border illegally".
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
“Making space for subversion and resistance is at the core of what this band is about,” she continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Perversely, it’s times like these, when subversion and subtlety are required, that creativity flourishes.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026
They openly bragged of their subversion, hustling a slave out the back door as the slave catchers broke down the front.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
His reach goes beyond that, though: Acts such as Lil Uzi Vert, Juice Wrld and Lil Nas X absorbed his radical aesthetics and peacocking subversions, taking them to pop radio and the Grammy stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2022
Her scents can be read as feminist subversions of the primacy of the visual in art and the Enlightenment’s celebration of the human brain as the seat of all intelligence.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2021
“You are a punk among punks, a subversion of rules that themselves are subversions of yet other rules.”
From Washington Post ● May 12, 2021
How can a decentralized movement that welcomes strangers guard against such subversions?
From Scientific American ● Feb. 3, 2021
Overturnings and subversions of this description are necessary to bring them to light.
From Napoleon the Little by Hugo, Victor
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.
