subversion
noun
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Subversion is literally the "turning over" of something. In the 1950s and '60s, many people worried about communist subversion of the U.S. government, though they often saw subversive activities where none existed. Nondemocratic governments often claim that anyone who disagrees with them or joins a demonstration is a subversive. But subversion isn't always quite so serious a matter; when words like weekend, sandwich, job, *and *camping started being used by the French, for example, some of them began claiming that America was subverting their language.
Examples of subversion in a Sentence
Quinn Scanlan, ABC News, 12 Nov. 2023
Scott Olson/Getty Images U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is chugging along with jury selection in Donald Trump’s federal election subversion case, despite attempts to delay the proceedings by the former president’s legal team.
—Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2023
For Jerome McLeod, a 31-year-old manager in New York, dressing up as Ken this Halloween is less of an embrace of what the doll has long represented and more of a subversion of it.
—TIME, 27 Oct. 2023
Here are some recent books where perspective is a site of experiment, subversion and play.
—Amal El-Mohtar, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
The latest from court Another Trump lawyer, Jenna Ellis, pleads guilty in Georgia 2020 election subversion case
Jenna Ellis, who boosted Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, pleaded guilty in Georgia on Tuesday after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023
Jenna Ellis, the Salem Media host who served as one of Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign attorneys, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a felony charge of aiding and abetting false statements in the Georgia election subversion case.
—Oliver Darcy, CNN, 25 Oct. 2023
Former Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of aiding and abetting false statements in the Georgia election subversion case, becoming the fourth co-defendant to enter a guilty plea and promise to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.
—Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 24 Oct. 2023
There is subversion afoot in campy iterations of butch and femme archetypes, a sense that exaggerating and remixing femininity and masculinity past the point of recognition is more fun than any futile attempt to discard them.
—Crispin Long, The New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'subversion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin subversion-, subversio, from Latin subvertere
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing subversion
Dictionary Entries Near subversion
Cite this Entry
“Subversion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subversion. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
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