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

The ultimate effect of Fedorov appeal to everyone’s better angels, is that Zelensky is weakened, the questions of his electoral legitimacy amplified, and the call for an end to the war bolstered.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
Positions have hardened, trust has weakened and the room for quiet resolution has narrowed.

— Sean Pattwell, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of weakened

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

Her motive wasn’t a major part of the trial, but evidence presented by the prosecution suggested her relationship with her in-laws had deteriorated.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
As the deployment has stretched on and living conditions on board have allegedly deteriorated, the crew of the Lincoln has also reportedly struggled with increasing mental health concerns.

— Connor Greene, Time, 14 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

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
For decades, many speculated Taylor had been poisoned with arsenic, as his sudden death happened during an intense political crisis over slavery.

— Sophie Clausen, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of poisoned

Verb

Some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third destroyed over the Moscow region itself.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
An airstrike destroyed a house in Ansar town, killing seven people and wounding three others on Saturday morning, NNA said.

— Tim Lister, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroyed

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subvert

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“Subverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subverted. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of subverted

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