Meaning & use
subvert
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To secretly weaken a government, institution or system so that it loses its power or stability.
Grammar: Takes an object such as authority, democracy or order.
Patterns
- subvert something
- subvert authority
The group tried to subvert the government by spreading false rumors.
Corruption can subvert the rule of law.
Hackers attempted to subvert the election system.
verbtransitive
To turn expected ideas, forms or conventions upside down, especially in art or writing, in order to challenge them.
Grammar: Often used in literary and film criticism: subvert expectations.
Patterns
- subvert expectations
- subvert a genre
The film subverts the usual rules of the horror genre.
The poet subverts the traditional love song.
The author subverted our expectations with an unexpected ending.
Word forms
| third person singular | subverts |
|---|---|
| past tense | subverted |
| past participle | subverted |
| -ing form | subverting |
Common combinations
- subvert authority
- The satire aimed to subvert authority.
- subvert expectations
- The show subverts expectations at every turn.
- subvert the system
- They wanted to subvert the system from within.
- subvert a tradition
- The designer subverts tradition with torn fabric.
- subvert democracy
- Disinformation can subvert democracy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- undermine
- Undermine means to weaken gradually, often more quietly and from any direction, while subvert suggests an attempt to overthrow or overturn.
- sabotage
- Sabotage means deliberately damaging or obstructing something, usually with more direct and physical action.
- overturn
- Overturn means to reverse something, typically openly and sometimes by legal means.
- corrupt
- Corrupt suggests moral decay rather than an attack on power.
Opposites
Word family
- subversion noun
- the act of undermining a system
- subversive adjective
- intending to undermine established systems
- subversively adverb
- in a way that undermines authority
- subverter noun
- a person who subverts, rare
Commonly confused: subvert or subdue? subvert or convert?
subvert vs subdue
Subdue means to bring under control or calm down, whereas subvert means to undermine or overturn.
subvert vs convert
Convert means to change from one form to another and has none of subvert's sense of attacking a system.
Practice
The satirical novel is meant to ____ the traditional ideas about success.
Choose one answer.
Subvert means to challenge or overturn, which fits satire. Support and follow mean the opposite, and subdue means to bring under control.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subvert”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.