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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 subverted 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 Last year, the struggle ended—or, at least, got subverted. — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 26 May 2026 New York Tendaberry, released in the fall of 1969, mostly consists of Nyro alone at the piano, delivering songs that eschewed and subverted most of the characteristics that had won her attention and adoration throughout the preceding decade. — Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 24 May 2026 Kardashian subverted expectations at the 2021 Met Gala by arriving in a face-covering body stocking by Balenciaga. — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 2 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subverted
  1. corrupted
  2. degraded
  3. weakened
  4. perverted
  5. deteriorated
  6. humiliated
  7. poisoned
  8. destroyed
Verb
  • Most of the other relationships in the movie are hopelessly corrupted or poisoned in some way, as Letty moves between an unloving mother and a vengeful former lover, and others whose closeness is a weapon to be feared.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 28 July 2026
  • The unsightly mushroom could have corrupted her maids’ morals, or even their health.
    — Leah Hudson, Popular Science, 9 July 2026
Definition of corrupted
Verb
  • Global conflict has already degraded the collaborative atmosphere at CERN, Llewellyn Smith said.
    — Lisa Song, CNN Money, 28 July 2026
  • In fact, over 70 percent of these barriers have degraded and lost functionality, frequently leaving the highway buried and blocked since 1999.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 27 July 2026
Definition of degraded
Verb
  • Researchers, educators, and policymakers questioned whether broadcasting encouraged juvenile delinquency, weakened family relationships, and gave governments and media organizations unprecedented influence over public opinion.
    — Michael Edmondson, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • Hochul, who weakened the state’s climate goals and signed off on new gas pipelines, is again an example.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 21 July 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
  • The leggings were still wet, heavily soiled, and badly deteriorated, LaHendro testified, making the edge detail too unreliable for comparison.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 24 July 2026
  • Oil prices have surged more than 30% in July with Brent crude breaking $100 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since May, as the security situation has rapidly deteriorated in the southern Red Sea and Hormuz.
    — Spencer Kimball,Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 24 July 2026
Definition of deteriorated
Verb
  • In Boston, a 30-year-old political communications strategist named Abhijeet Dipke woke up to the remark and felt humiliated by it.
    — Penny Abeywardena, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • The Fijians were tough and clinical in a huge turnaround from last weekend when they were humiliated by England 73-8 in Liverpool.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 July 2026
Definition of humiliated
Verb
  • Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 29 July 2026
  • Most of the other relationships in the movie are hopelessly corrupted or poisoned in some way, as Letty moves between an unloving mother and a vengeful former lover, and others whose closeness is a weapon to be feared.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 28 July 2026
Definition of poisoned
Verb
  • Residents of one village in the Gironde region of France returned to find their homes charred and destroyed by the wildfire which has ripped through them.
    — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 26 July 2026
  • Yet with a lack of funds, officials halted further work, leaving the stands partially destroyed and deserted.
    — Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 25 July 2026
Definition of destroyed

Browse Nearby Words

subvert
subverted
subverter
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Cite this Entry

“Subverted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subverted. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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