as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
by insisting that she pay me for helping her, she subverted my noble desire to do a good deed without reward
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Recent Examples of subvert
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, said the plan outlined subverted Congress's power outlined in the Constitution, controlling how government money is spent, according to Reuters.
—
Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Sep. 2025
DiCaprio, 50, subverts his Hollywood leading man image by wearing a ratty red robe, unkempt hair and oversized sunglasses as former revolutionary and current stoner Bob Ferguson, who is forced back into action to save himself and his daughter (Chase Infiniti) from paramilitary enforcers.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
The Hacks star, 34, made a statement with her arrival to the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, subverting the event's formal dress code.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Those tactics are also used to generate funds meant to help the regime subvert international sanctions and develop its nuclear weapons programs, according to the US government.
—Nino Paoli, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subvert
Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Sep. 2025
DiCaprio, 50, subverts his Hollywood leading man image by wearing a ratty red robe, unkempt hair and oversized sunglasses as former revolutionary and current stoner Bob Ferguson, who is forced back into action to save himself and his daughter (Chase Infiniti) from paramilitary enforcers.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
The Hacks star, 34, made a statement with her arrival to the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, subverting the event's formal dress code.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
Those tactics are also used to generate funds meant to help the regime subvert international sanctions and develop its nuclear weapons programs, according to the US government.
—Nino Paoli, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subvert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subvert
Verb
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The team discovered that oxygen can degrade riboflavin when exposed to light, which leads to self-discharge.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Oct. 2025
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In Brazil, wildcat gold mining degrades the Amazon rainforest and imperils Indigenous groups.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But with her coalition prospects in doubt, and the party weakened by scandal and voter frustration, her route to Japan’s top job is far from assured.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
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Studies have found that, in some instances, background noise can weaken territorial responses in males.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Files were easily lost or corrupted.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
8 Oct. 2025
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As a model named Carl, stuck in a relationship corrupted by microcelebrity and Instagram view counts, Dickinson ticks with exasperation and sarcastic logic, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide and staring.—
Carrie Battan,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The fear of further Israeli strikes, particularly on Iran, remains acute in the public’s mind as much of Iranian air defenses likely were destroyed by Israel in June.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
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The Wild were absolutely destroyed in the faceoff circle, losing 44 of 71 (38 percent success rate).—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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We were crushed, humiliated, and broken, after our city was destroyed, occupied and erased from existence.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
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Alarr’s unwelcome physical touching made Plaintiff feel offended, uncomfortable, humiliated and intimidated.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dogville, from 2003, is an experimental Lars von Trier film shot on a stage set in which Kidman plays a woman debased and abused by the inhabitants of a small town.—
Wendell Steavenson,
Vogue,
8 Oct. 2025
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Freddy Krueger debases the suburban American ideal through the dreams of teenagers in Nightmare on Elm Street.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But Antonio distracts him by accusing him in the town square of sending Justina off to El Alcazar and poisoning his son.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
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One of the jurors said deliberations were poisoned by a belief among some jurors that a member of the panel had been paid off by Weinstein or his lawyers.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But in some facilities, a much cheaper liquid is used to dilute it or substitute for it.—
Gabrielle Emanuel,
NPR,
10 Oct. 2025
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And while the study doesn't answer the question of whether an animal feeding operation is built in a certain community or whether a certain community settles around it, Goldstein says that doesn’t dilute the study’s take-home message.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subvert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subvert. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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