SUBVERT Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

subvert

verb

səb-ˈvərt

Definition of subvert

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of subvert While Africa holds some of the largest deposits, many are in countries that lack adequate infrastructure, compounding investors’ worries on top of fears that Chinese intervention could subvert project economics, Reuters reported. — Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2026 The state alleges OpenAI's rapid success stems from deceit and exploitation, causing widespread harm to Floridians and subverting public order. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026 Carter’s collection of fairytale retellings are macabre and sensual, highlighting female violence and subverting expectations of female sexuality at equal turns. — S.m. Hallow, PEOPLE, 18 Aug. 2026 Laws and elections can quickly shift the balance of power in the game, and the rules can be subverted or twisted to your advantage through the deft deployment of crushing bureaucracy. — Alan Bradley, Space.com, 14 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for subvert

Recent Examples of Synonyms for subvert

Verb

Users will likely notice if outputs degrade, just like Chinese systems attacking models would.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026
In 1963, Gloria Steinem went undercover for a journalism assignment as a Playboy bunny, exposing degrading working conditions that forced policy changes.

— Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of degrade

Verb

Dairy cows are producing less milk and birthing fewer or weakened calves.

— Vivian Song, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
Though Hurricane Marie continues to weaken in the southern Pacific Ocean — and is expected to remain hundreds of miles off the Southern California coastline — the region can still expect to feel some effects from the storm over the next few days.

— Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of weaken

Verb

This may then seem like yet another story about how Trump has wrecked norms and corrupted the rule of law.

— James Surowiecki, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026
Instead, in trying to explain what made both Murdoch and Lamb tick in those early days, Boyle and Graham show us just how intoxicating and corrupting this kind of success can be.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of corrupt

Verb

After Israel destroyed Jenin refugee camp during the Second Intifada in 2002, a young girl looked into Mohammad Bakri’s camera and said that Palestinians would live proudly as eagles and die standing like lions.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
That’s because key refineries that produce it have been knocked offline or destroyed, both in Eastern Europe — where the Ukraine-Russia war still rages — and in the Middle East.

— Steve Kopack, NBC news, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of destroy

Verb

On a cold night in November 2011, in a field outside Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, a gang of thugs stormed a Soviet scientific research institute, beat and humiliated the staff and burned the place to the ground.

— Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
My husband was humiliated, he was degraded, and not able to defend himself.

— Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of humiliate

Verb

This rousing tribute to the free press, delivered by the son of a journalist, was followed by the world premiere of Danny Boyle’s Ink, a film about how the journalists at British tabloid The Sun ended up debasing our entire society.

— Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
The bulk of these are in regions like Africa and South America, where governments have repeatedly debased national currencies, and prompted their citizens to seek out sturdier assets like Tether’s dollar and gold offerings instead.

— Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of debase

Verb

Over the course of Exile, one of Loktev’s subjects is poisoned; another receives a five-year prison sentence in absentia.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
This is the league, remember, where a man (Harvey Updyke) confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn on a radio show after Alabama lost to the Tigers, and a coach (Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State) castrated a bull to motivate his squad.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of poison

Verb

But aside from the economic benefits, there have been concerns about the league diluting its talent pool by getting too big, too fast.

— Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
On international reach, Shergill says Indian humor does not need to be diluted to travel abroad.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of dilute

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subversives

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“Subvert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subvert. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of subvert

verb

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