subversive

UK/səbˈvɜːsɪv/US/səbˈvɝsɪv/

adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,123 of 15,258neutral

Subversive means working quietly to undermine an established order. A subversive book, subversive humour, subversive activity.

The quiet part is essential: an open attack is not subversion. Applied to art it is often praise, and applied by a state to its citizens it is a charge that has justified a great deal of surveillance. The Latin means to turn from below.

Definitions of subversive

1adjectivesubversiveWorking quietly to undermine an established order.C1
“The government banned the young poet's work, calling it subversive and dangerous.”

subversive is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin subvertere means to overturn — sub, from below, plus vertere, to turn.

See subvert and -ive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

subversive in the wild

The act's Subversive Activities Control Board, which enforced the law's provision calling for investigations of persons engaging in "subversive activities," would also be abolished in 1972.
McCarran Internal Security Act
In this context, a "subversive" is sometimes called a "traitor" with respect to (and usually by) the government in power.
Subversion
In this case, being subversive can mean questioning, poking fun at, and undermining the established order in general.
Subversion
The bureau was involved in intelligence and subversive missions to Persia and to Afghanistan, and also attempted, along with the Berlin Committee, to recruit Indian soldiers in Mesopotamia.
Intelligence Bureau for the East
The free software community considered the site subversive and suspected Microsoft's goal was to make people dependent on Windows and other software owned by Microsoft.
Outercurve Foundation

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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