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

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
The difference with those films is that all those guys came in corrupted by something or had something mentally going on.

— Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of corrupted

Verb

Sometimes the caulk around a drain has degraded, allowing mold to grow and offering an inviting way for springtails to enter.

— Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 10 Sep. 2026
The investigation found that the unpermitted excavation degraded sensitive habitats, according to a commission fact sheet.

— Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of degraded

Verb

Economic data for July showed retail sales and urban investment both weakened, adding to pressure on Beijing to step up support for the remainder of the year.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
This view suggests that the sense of shame was collectively weakened by a series of self-interested actors who shattered the social firmament and opened up the gates to chaos.

— Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of weakened

Verb

Continue reading … HARD LEFT PIVOT — Newsom says Electoral College has 'perverted' US politics in fiery interview.

— , FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of perverted

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 humiliated

Verb

Colonizers call it voluntary emigration, but there is nothing voluntary about fleeing after your home has been bombed, your fields poisoned, your water cut off and your child buried.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of poisoned

Verb

Forces also destroyed a third vessel, the M/T Kylo near the Gulf of Oman.

— Gabrielle Khoriaty, NBC news, 5 Sep. 2026
And, as Europe has felt more threatened by Russian incursions, a week ago NATO fighter jets destroyed a drone near Romania’s natural gas projects in the Black Sea.

— Jordan Blum, Fortune, 5 Sep. 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 13 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of subverted

verb

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