as in corrupted
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 subverted
At the 2025 Emmys in September, the actress subverted the event's formal dress code, opting for straight-leg blue jeans and a white T-shirt, adding a pair of black flats, a belt and sunglasses.
—
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026
The actress has even subverted expectations with her performances in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) and as Emily Dickinson in Wild Nights With Emily (2018).
—Danny Horn, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Nov. 2025
Yet, as second wave feminism took root in the 1960s, many women seized on broom-riding witches as heroes who subverted ideas of domesticity.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
However, it’s massively subverted expectation - and that’s an understatement.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Nov. 2025
Details on how the administration has subverted health spending have received little attention because many changes have been made quietly -- and people who rely on federal funds fear retribution.
—Amy Maxmen, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2025
But Larry, a true cynic, was stuck in a different time, gagged and bound by a tireless insistence on creating art that subverted and satirized those same good old-fashioned family values.
—Michael Cuby, Them., 24 Oct. 2025
The novel has been adapted, riffed on, and subverted in hundreds of films from silent shorts to modern teen comedies.
—Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
The show also subverted what the traditional mother-daughter relationship, and the role of a mother in general, can look like in the modern world.
—Anna Tingley, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 4 Jan. 2026
The actress has even subverted expectations with her performances in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) and as Emily Dickinson in Wild Nights With Emily (2018).
—Danny Horn, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Nov. 2025
Yet, as second wave feminism took root in the 1960s, many women seized on broom-riding witches as heroes who subverted ideas of domesticity.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
However, it’s massively subverted expectation - and that’s an understatement.
—Griff Griffin, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Nov. 2025
Details on how the administration has subverted health spending have received little attention because many changes have been made quietly -- and people who rely on federal funds fear retribution.
—Amy Maxmen, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2025
But Larry, a true cynic, was stuck in a different time, gagged and bound by a tireless insistence on creating art that subverted and satirized those same good old-fashioned family values.
—Michael Cuby, Them., 24 Oct. 2025
The novel has been adapted, riffed on, and subverted in hundreds of films from silent shorts to modern teen comedies.
—Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025
The show also subverted what the traditional mother-daughter relationship, and the role of a mother in general, can look like in the modern world.
—Anna Tingley, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subverted
Verb
-
Trump has thoroughly corrupted the Justice Department, but its selective prosecutions of his foes have been thwarted by judges and, more strikingly, by grand juries.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Murry corrupted and perverted and destroyed Katherine both as a person and a writer […] Her gifts were those of an intense realist, with a superb sense of ironic humour and fundamental cynicism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Wallin points out that half of the world’s GDP, amounting to $44 trillion, is directly dependent on nature, yet the essential systems that support economic stability continue to be degraded.—
Nia Bowers,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
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Ancient samples, degraded over centuries, often contain fragments too small for PCR to amplify.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
With some estimates putting wave heights as much as 35 feet, weakened hatch covers would have been vulnerable to such waves.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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The years of horrific violence have weakened Sudan, plunging its institutions into chaos and making its population more vulnerable and poorer.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Murry corrupted and perverted and destroyed Katherine both as a person and a writer […] Her gifts were those of an intense realist, with a superb sense of ironic humour and fundamental cynicism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
-
Even more poignant, however, is the Rosemary's Baby angle, where the innocence of childhood is drowned in blood and the notion that a young person reared in a loving environment should develop into a compassionate adult is perverted into unthinkable horror.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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But just an hour later, the wife received a call from the home telling her that his condition had deteriorated and he was being sent to Hialeah Hospital.—
Kevin G. Hall,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The judge said the missing video could have shown whether deputies or medical staff had checked on Schuck or ignored him as his condition deteriorated.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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She had never been arrested before and felt humiliated when her mugshot was plastered all over the news after her arrest.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
12 Dec. 2025
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She was humiliated when her oldest son was forced to testify in a divorce case.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Residents are also urged to watch children closely while playing outdoors where mushrooms grow and to keep pets away, since animals can be poisoned as well.—
Tim Fang,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
In June 2024, Bich poisoned a fourth relative — a teenager — who survived after collapsing and being rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered cyanide in his stomach and alerted the family, the outlets reported.—
Christina Coulter,
PEOPLE,
27 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The Palisades fire killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 structures, becoming the third-most destructive fire in state history.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Jan. 2026
-
One year after the Palisades Fire leveled entire neighborhoods and destroyed thousands of homes, one Malibu resident is stepping up to help rebuild his community with his architectural expertise.—
Luzdelia Caballero,
CBS News,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Subverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subverted. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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