subversive
Also sub·ver·sion·ar·y [suhb-vur-zhuh-ner-ee, -shuh-]. /səbˈvɜr ʒəˌnɛr i, -ʃə-/. 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.
a person who adopts subversive principles or policies.
Origin of subversive
1Other words for subversive
Other words from subversive
- sub·ver·sive·ly, adverb
- sub·ver·siv·ism, sub·ver·sive·ness, noun
- coun·ter·sub·ver·sive, noun
- non·sub·ver·sive, adjective
- non·sub·ver·sive·ly, adverb
- non·sub·ver·sive·ness, noun
- self-sub·ver·sive, adjective
- un·sub·ver·sive, adjective
- un·sub·ver·sive·ly, adverb
- un·sub·ver·sive·ness, noun
Words Nearby subversive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use subversive in a sentence
The TV veteran — who as someone who worked on Fox’s “Married … With Children” is familiar with subversive TV comedy — said he understands the motivation for bringing on someone like Musk.
Elon Musk is being brought in to save SNL’s sagging ratings. He could sink the show in other ways. | Steven Zeitchik | May 7, 2021 | Washington PostIn an era when audiences have seen the Wicked Witch of the West transformed into an animal rights activist and Harley Quinn depicted as a sympathetic anti-hero, not every villain needs to be recast as a misunderstood subversive.
Her crazy driving is a key element of Cruella de Vil’s evil. Here’s why. | Genevieve Carpio | April 2, 2021 | Washington PostHis impersonation saw him charged as a subversive, and he had to be rescued by the American vice consul.
At the same time, I was learning about science and reading subversive people like Bertrand Russell.
There are fights, resistance, and subversive behaviors, but through all that, there is a broad commonality.
Submission is less a novel of ideas than a political book, and of the most subversive kind.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President | Pierre Assouline | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTMiller traces his irreverent and subversive streak to a psychedelic experience during the particularly sweltering summer of 1991.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy | Oliver Jones | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOf course, you can read this just as a brilliant, subversive coda to a horror movie.
Hipgnosis were at their most subversive when taking photos of the band.
These subversive narratives were not the solution I sought to the dissonance between my expected and actual college experience.
The worthy man is too loyal to the set rules of his acknowledged leaders, to harbour a notion so subversive and dangerous.
A Cursory History of Swearing | Julian SharmanHis lofty realism was subversive of popular superstitions, when logically carried out.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordIt gives assurance, at least, that no particularly wild schemes or subversive changes shall be made.
Spanish Life in Town and Country | L. Higgin and Eugne E. StreetNo question was decided in the academy without the opinion of Aristotle, though it was often subversive of that of Plato.
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 3 of 8 | VariousAfter all, lefthandedness was impious in religion, subversive to discipline in military affairs and unlisted in business.
Seeing Things at Night | Heywood Broun
British Dictionary definitions for subversive
/ (səbˈvɜːsɪv) /
liable to subvert or overthrow a government, legally constituted institution, etc
a person engaged in subversive activities, etc
Derived forms of subversive
- subversively, adverb
- subversiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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