SUBVERTED Synonyms: 75 Similar and Opposite Words

subverted

verb

past tense of subvert

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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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 subverted 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 That's because when the stakes are high, and the actors begin to cry, the serious tone begs to be subverted by a humorous caption. — Owen Carry, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 What could be a stock campus ice-queen role is subverted throughout the season, through the empathy for the character that courses through her performance. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 27 July 2026 Ireland sought to slow down the match but New Zealand subverted that tactic, forcing turnovers and kicking only sparingly. — ABC News, 18 July 2026 The Sedition Act of 1918, which subverted the Bill of Rights, imposed penalties for anti-government expression. — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 1 July 2026 Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith’s screenplay is littered with exaggerated stereotypes just waiting to be boisterously subverted. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 29 June 2026 One day after Zendaya subverted her usual high-fashion fare by wearing a $35 T-shirt from eBay, the 29-year-old actress dipped into a different type of archive on June 25. — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 25 June 2026 But Raman — whose husband is veteran 30 Rock writer and producer Vali Chandrasekaran — has quietly subverted her showy target in a way befitting that series. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 6 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for subverted

Verb

As a result, the notion of utopia became increasingly associated with the sci-fi genre, while the idea of creating a perfect social order here on earth was corrupted by totalitarian regimes.

— Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026
If Romance balanced the human and the corrupted, Dopamine Chamber deliberately tips the scales.

— SPIN Staff, SPIN, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of corrupted

Verb

Iran is unlikely to give up the leverage offered by having proxies spread across the region, even if some of them have been degraded by Israel or lost a foothold thanks to regime change, as is the case in Syria.

— Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
But now, Wright says Wendy’s has drifted from some of those qualities, telling investors that decisions made in the interest of cost and efficiency had degraded some of the food quality that set the chain apart.

— Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of degraded

Verb

More important to Bernstein is what that lust reveals about her characters’ deepest needs, specifically how their need to care and be cared for can be as easily perverted as any other form of desire.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 9 July 2026
Georgia Bernstein’s unsettling directorial debut focuses on how warped and perverted those desires become when they’re taken to their insatiable extremes.

— Randy Myers, Mercury News, 8 July 2026

Definition of perverted

Verb

The Associated Press OSLO, Norway -- Crown Prince Haakon visited his father King Harald of Norway on Monday at the hospital, after the king's health deteriorated over the weekend, public broadcaster NRK reported.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Her defense says she was prescribed 13 medications over four months as her mental health deteriorated.

— Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of deteriorated

Verb

In their first national title game, the Wildcats humiliated Oklahoma in the national semifinal by 44, and in their second, demoralized Michigan in the title game by 17.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
After being publicly humiliated by Daemon Targaryen and lured to switch sides (with his dragon) to the Greens by Ormund Hightower, party animal Ulf is still drunk and MIA when the battle starts.

— Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of humiliated

Verb

Glutathione is processed in sterile compounding pharmacies, and there have been cases of people getting poisoned due to contamination at these facilities, Sack said.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
Patterson was accused of pretending to eat the same portion, and of feigning illness in an elaborate ruse to suggest she’d also been poisoned.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Verb

Glutathione was offered to firefighters during recent blazes that destroyed hundreds of buildings in and around Spokane, Washington.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
If satellites supporting communications or ISR were damaged or destroyed, a faster and less expensive launch system could theoretically allow replacement spacecraft to be deployed more quickly.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroyed

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subvert

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subverter

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“Subverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subverted. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of subverted

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