subversion

American  

[suhb-vur-zhuhn, -shuhn] / səbˈvɜr ʒən, -ʃən /

noun

• subversions
  plural

1. an act or instance of subverting.

2. the state of being subverted; destruction.

3. something that subverts or overthrows.

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subversion British  

/ səbˈvɜːʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of subverting or overthrowing a legally constituted government, institution, etc

2. the state of being subverted; destruction or ruin

3. something that brings about an overthrow

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antisubversion
  noun
• nonsubversion
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• subversions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of subversion

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin subversiōn- (stem of subversiō ) an overthrowing. See sub-, version

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subversion subversions

He noted that Morrissey’s malaise mirrors the sentiment of many ranchera songs, also citing that his effeminate onstage persona is a perfect subversion of Mexican machismo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

In a 15-minute address, Pezeshkian denied that the nation seeks nuclear weapons and called the attacks “a grave betrayal of diplomacy and subversion of efforts towards the establishment of stability and peace.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

The 29-year-old Wong, one of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong's now-quashed democracy movement, is already serving a nearly five-year sentence for subversion and was due to be released next year.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

He was released in June after spending more than five years in prison for subversion and other convictions.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

That day, however, as Mary Jackson ran into Kazimierz Czarnecki on the west side of the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, there was no turning inward, no subversion, and no dissembling.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

But as always with sly fairy tale subversions, “happily ever after” wasn’t quite the end.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022

“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

But “Columbo” eschews both the genre’s traditional clichés and the subversions of those clichés — which are themselves, by now, conventional.

From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2020

Few things are more trying than the world's remorseless intrusion upon one's privacy, and subversions of plans which one has laid, not for himself alone.

From The Gospel According to St. Mark by G. A. Chadwick

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Related Words

• destruction

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