From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubvertsub‧vert /səbˈvɜːt $ -ˈvɜːrt/ verb [transitive] formal 1 PPREBELLION/REVOLUTIONto try to destroy the power and influence of a government or the established system an attempt to subvert the democratic process2 DESTROYto destroy someone’s beliefs or loyalty→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
subvert• Neville's genius was to subvert and turn round press attacks on Oz, but they could still cost dearly.• It is as if the filters of distance and time were subverted by the complex connecting of everything to everything.• Smith was sentenced to 14 years for plotting to subvert the government.• Coercion and domination subvert the integrity of love by creating power relationships that are its antithesis.• Too much control and predictability might eventually subvert the organizational goals.• A more contemporary comparison might be deconstruction, which tries to subvert the text by turning its own unacknowledged premises against it.• Other officials with different views were also subverting them.Origin subvert (1300-1400) Old French subvertir, from Latin subvertere “to turn from beneath, subvert” 