as in sabotage
secret efforts to weaken or ruin a political system or government from within
They were arrested on charges of political subversion.
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Recent Examples of subversion
The victory would be short as Indonesia, with its original plan of political subversion thwarted, soon turned to outright military means.
—
Agathe Demarolle, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026
Most concerns centered on logistics, the subversion of the approval process, and the destruction of a historic landmark.
—Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 4 Mar. 2026
In one reading, Louise’s terrorist arc is a refreshing subversion of the political correctness of Cash’s millennial forebears, the Patricia Lockwoods and Sally Rooneys and Sheila Hetis of the world, who might never dream of straying from their lane of lived experience.
—Malavika Kannan, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2026
Amos Toh, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, was also among several legal experts who said that the supply chain risk designation requires the government to prove that there is a risk of sabotage, subversion, or manipulation of operations by an adversary.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for subversion
Agathe Demarolle, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026
Most concerns centered on logistics, the subversion of the approval process, and the destruction of a historic landmark.
—Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 4 Mar. 2026
In one reading, Louise’s terrorist arc is a refreshing subversion of the political correctness of Cash’s millennial forebears, the Patricia Lockwoods and Sally Rooneys and Sheila Hetis of the world, who might never dream of straying from their lane of lived experience.
—Malavika Kannan, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2026
Amos Toh, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, was also among several legal experts who said that the supply chain risk designation requires the government to prove that there is a risk of sabotage, subversion, or manipulation of operations by an adversary.
—Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for subversion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subversion
Noun
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The sabotage entails entering proprietary information into public AI tools, or using unapproved AI tools.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
8 Apr. 2026
-
The United Kingdom judges gave ABBA nil points at Eurovision, a rating some viewers (and ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus) think was an attempt at sabotage.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In 2021, she was profiled by multiple magazines for painting the January 6 insurrection.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
11 Apr. 2026
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Facing insurrection charges, Kimbangu was sentenced to death.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Consider this evilmeister’s brazen acts of treason and revenge, unbounded deceit, swinish immorality and negative role modeling.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
5 Apr. 2026
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She was imprisoned in Salimgarh Fort (a part of Red Fort) in Delhi by her father for more than 20 years for inciting her brother, Muhammad Akbar, to commit treason.—
Tamanna Nangia,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The memoirs are valued above all for their candor, though Jahangir chose to avoid writing about his earlier rebellion against his father, Akbar.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
9 Apr. 2026
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Many of the stories in the book are tragic Icarus narratives, featuring acts of rebellion that succeed in one brief ecstatic burst, and then resoundingly fail.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This time around, though, heavy casualties risk triggering internal mass unrest in a nation where a sizable portion of the population is anti-regime, regardless of their religious embrace of martyrdom.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
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After the 2020 unrest, however, City Hall moved to expand and elevate that model.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Undocumented immigrants venture from Mexico, often underestimating of the treachery of the landscape.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
26 Mar. 2026
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Jonathan Cute kept probing the murky realms between tourism and treachery.—
Adam Ciralsky,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subversion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subversion. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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