From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubversivesub‧ver‧sive1 /səbˈvɜːsɪv $ -ˈvɜːr-/ adjective PPREBELLION/REVOLUTIONsubversive ideas, activities etc are secret and intended to damage or destroy a government or an established system He was engaged in subversive activities.subversive propaganda/literature —subversively adverb
Examples from the Corpus
subversive• I think this is genuinely subversive.• Reggae was what was called for, some subversive atmosphere in the place.• I do not wish to suggest that New Historians are involved in some huge subversive critical enterprise duping credulous students.• But, as Marx saw long ago, free-market capitalism is quintessentially populist and inherently subversive of traditions and rituals.• This time the language and violence seem only frantic, not genuinely subversive or liberating.• subversive organizations• Plato wrote that the potentially subversive qualities of music were such that it would not be permitted in the perfect state.• The loyalty oath was intended to protect students from so-called subversive teachers.• Most of those words are cynical, humorous and often subversive to the established order.• Again, though, the Fundamental Theorem was doing its subversive work behind the scenes.subversive propaganda/literature• He had remained faithful to the Party in its outlaw years, and had gone to prison for distributing subversive literature.subversivesubversive2 noun [countable] someone who secretly tries to damage or destroy the government or an established system a known subversive —subversiveness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
subversive• CIA agents infiltrated the group, looking for alleged subversives.• The new openness meant that there was a marked reduction in the arrests of alleged subversives and in the closures of newspapers.• Pablo Picasso was for a long time regarded as a dangerous subversive.• Postimpressionist art was also taboo, especially Pablo Picasso, who was regarded as a dangerous subversive.• The twins, at almost eleven, were clowns, especially Shaw, who was beginning a career as the family subversive.• Too many subversives, they said.• They became scapegoats for crimes committed and were widely bruited as potential subversives.• the kidnap and torture of a suspected subversive• If two subversives want to meet and pass unnoticed, then do it in the smartest, most exclusive hotel in Geneva. 