as in rebel
someone who tries to overthrow or undermine a governing power
They were outted as subversives and exiled from the country.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in violent
seeking to overthrow or undermine a governing power
A subversive organization determined to unseat a leader who they believed operated outside the law.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subversive
Noun
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Despite all their years of playing cat-and-mouse, Diego Luna’s rebel spy Cassian Andor and Kyle Soller‘s Empire agent Syril Karn have never had much screen time together — until now.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
7 May 2025 -
Israel has repeatedly targeted the rebels in Yemen.—
Elena Becatoros,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2025
Adjective
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Europeans, Australians and Americans organized violent, racially motivated riots and lawmakers began enacting anti-Chinese immigration legislation, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
16 May 2025
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Some liberal critics on social media say that Republicans did not seem to take issue when the same slogan — or even more violent rhetoric — was targeted at a Democratic president.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
16 May 2025
Noun
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As threats from insurgents faded, crackdowns by an authoritarian government surged.—
Mitra Taj,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
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As a result, the new international legal architecture curbed starvation tactics in interstate wars and during occupations but stopped short of fully criminalizing the weapon, particularly when used by poorer states against insurgent groups in civil wars.—
Boyd van Dijk,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Ibsen’s revolutionary script ends with the wife, Nora, walking out on her husband, Torvald, and their daughter in order to discover her full potential as a human being.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
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Set against the backdrop of Imperial Russia’s criminal underworld and revolutionary ferment, the film explores the making of the bloody dictator who would reshape the 20th century through terror, war and ideology — and the largest bank heist in Russian history, according to the logline.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Not all of us in the anti-globalist crowd were pot-smoking anarchists.—
Rachel Marsden,
Hartford Courant,
26 Apr. 2025
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Italy's special police unit Digos is leading an investigation looking into the possibility that anarchists set fire to the cars on the eastern outskirts of the Italian capital, a security source said.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Subversive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subversive. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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