SUBVERSIVE Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

subversive 1 of 2

noun

Definition of subversive

as in rebel

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

Related Words

Relevance

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.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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

Noun

The war next door United Nations experts have documented Rwandan military support for M23 rebels, which have seized territory in eastern DRC.

— Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 22 Oct. 2026
But the rebels also have an array of relatively cheap drones, including weapons supplied by Iran, and locally made copies of Iranian attack drones.

— Frank Andrews, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of rebel

Adjective

Government critics and human rights campaigners have alleged that police tactics in the last month have been unnecessarily violent.

— ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
But complicating the government's efforts to bring the French deficit under control are widespread protests that have turned increasingly violent since starting as a Parisian student movement last month.

— Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of violent

Noun

Khalilzad on Friday wrote on X that there had been reports of Pakistan arming Afghans to fight the Taliban inside Afghanistan and of the Pakistani military recruiting Afghans to fight anti-Pakistan insurgents.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
President Emmanuel Macron has been the primary target of scorn following nationwide riots that overtook Paris and other cities, but the insurgent National Rally does not want to let mainstream conservatives off the hook.

— Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of insurgent

Noun

At the time, the project felt hyperbolic, largely because of the finger-wagging interventions of Zillah, a modern-day punk anarchist who ranted about Reagan as a new Hitler.

— Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
The situation on the ground is unpredictable because the students, communists, anarchists, anti-Israel and other protesters that have collaborated to make France a worse place to visit in recent days might do something no one expects.

— Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of anarchist

Browse Nearby Words

subversions

subversive

subversives

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Subversive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subversive. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of subversive

noun

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

milieu

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes