Verb: subvert sub'vurt or ,súb'vurt
- Act to reduce, damage or destroy the effectiveness, power or stability of something
"The Resistance subverted railway operations during the war";
- sabotage, undermine, countermine, counteract, weaken
- Cause the downfall or removal of a government, authority, or established system
"subvert the ruling class";
- overthrow, overturn, bring down
- Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
"Do school counselors subvert young children?";
- corrupt, pervert, demoralize, demoralise [Brit], debauch, debase, profane, vitiate, deprave, misdirect
- To raze to the ground, also figuratively
"we must not let our civil liberties be subverted by the current crisis"
Derived forms: subverted, subverts, subverting
Type of: alter, change, depose, destroy, disobey, force out, modify, ruin
Encyclopedia: Subvert