subversive 1 of 2

noun

Definition of subversivenext
as in rebel
someone who tries to overthrow or undermine a governing power They were outted as subversives and exiled from the country.

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subversive

2 of 2

adjective

as in violent
seeking to overthrow or undermine a governing power A subversive organization determined to unseat a leader who they believed operated outside the law.

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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 subversive
Noun
Home of the subversive and the sublime, the maverick and the madman, the inspired and the inspiring, the sage and the clown, and, most important, the brave. — Tom Selleck, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026 Kristen Stewart loves to be a little subversive with her fashion choices. — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 23 June 2026 The seamless integration of old and new feels stealthy, and a touch subversive, a doubling-down on the museum’s approach to time as nonlinear, sinuous and delightfully slippery. — Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026 Instead, the stylish couple spent the construction years combing through vintage markets, building a concept that’s classic, but singular and a little subversive. — Regan Stephens, Travel + Leisure, 20 Apr. 2026 On November 25, 1947, a majority of Hollywood top brass met at the Waldorf Astoria in New York and drafted the notorious Waldorf Statement that promised no studio would employ anyone who was a communist or suspected subversive. — Chris Yogerst, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2025 Loners lashing out America has had genuine subversives and left-wing terror networks in the past. — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 Sep. 2025 An obsession with Perfidia Beverly Hills (a magnetic Teyana Taylor), the animating figure behind a militant organization called the French 75 and the most stunning subversive to flaunt an automatic weapon while heavily pregnant. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025 To dissidents, she has been seen as a hero putting her life on the line; to Modi’s supporters, as a dangerous subversive who is anti-national and anti-Hindu. — Anderson Tepper, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
What Chavarria has created is a brand that’s known for being subversive, unapologetic, and radically cool. — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026 Once a corduroy suit has been declared practical, quietly subversive, and fictitiously endorsed by a punk legend, restraint doesn’t come easily. — John Vorwald, Robb Report, 10 Oct. 2026 Gaye’s was perhaps the most inventive, not to say subversive, Black version of the anthem since Jimi Hendrix had shredded the song at Woodstock in 1969. — Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026 In Paris, designers took an unseasonably dark and more subversive approach to denim. — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026 As a director, Fish has taken subversive, revelatory approaches to the theatrical canon and has adapted, for a taste, Don DeLillo and David Foster Wallace. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026 Take the subversive label Matières Fécales who started the week by shutting down the Place de la République, welcoming a cadre of over-the-top attendees. — Phil Oh, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026 The installation was meant to challenge Muslim stereotypes while making a subversive nod to the bread as a famous French symbol. — Siran Babayan, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026 For Adult Swim’s 25th anniversary, IndieWire traced the scrappy and subversive sensibility that turned a ballsy experiment into one of TV’s most influential brands and, for folks like me, a meaningful ritual. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 25 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subversive
  1. rebel
  2. violent
  3. insurgent
  4. revolutionary
  5. anarchist
Noun
  • The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for oil shipments.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for Gulf oil shipments.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of rebel
Adjective
  • That, in turn, reveals a family history of violent gravitational instability caused by events like giant collisions and planetary ejections.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The show, which can certainly be tense, spends more time on being funny than violent.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of violent
Noun
  • Raman, who now occupies the insurgent role in the race, seemed to see the fires less as an indictment of the system than of Bass.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Rwanda has acknowledged defensive “security coordinationâ€� with the M23 insurgents, who have held large swaths of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo for more than a year.
    — Ruben Nyanguila, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of insurgent
Adjective
  • Robert Stephenson’s burgeoning locomotive system was the perfect early adopter of this revolutionary communications network.
    — Mike McRae October 15, New Atlas, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The Iranian revolutionary guard’s engineering cadre trained at MIT.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of revolutionary
Noun
  • The effects of these publications were hardly only theoretical, as Italian anarchists exerted a powerful influence on labor strikes.
    — Ed Simon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Oct. 2026
  • There are groups of radical environmentalists and anarchists who embrace him, and Luigi Mangione gave the Unabomber Manifesto a four-star review on Goodreads.
    — Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of anarchist

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Cite this Entry

“Subversive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subversive. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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