Adjective.
Pronunciation and
accent: səbvɜːsɪv,
(America: səbvərsɪv)
Etymology: derived
from the Latin verb subvertere (= to subvert). It is
identical to Spanish subversivo, French
subversif, and Italian sovversivo. Subvertere it is analysed
into these Latin elements: sub- (prefix with
semantic implication of “under”) + vertere (= to turn).
Definition: (of a thing, or a
person) that subverts; tending to cause subversion; causing, or tending to cause
invalidation or discontinuity of something, either corporeal or incorporeal, through
contrariety of forces, powers, opinions, etc.
Antonyms: invigorating,
energizing, exciting.
Synonyms: overpowering,
invalidating.
It is dated from
the beginning of 1600.
Whether it was the salt or the mustard, or the mere combination of so many subversive agents, as soon as the
last had been poured over his throat, the young sufferer obtained relief.
Louis Stevenson… The Dynamiter
-) With the
preposition of + a
noun of the thing invalidated:
Out
of school, he could not help feeling that the boy had not been very far wrong,
however subversive of
authority his behaviour had been.
George MacDonald… Alec Forbes of Howglen
Without
consulting any other authors, we have here four conceptions of attraction
distinct from each other, and entirely subversive of each other.
Felix O’Gallagher… An essay on the investigation…
[…]
a belief which it has been pronounced is subversive of my whole theory.
Charles Darwin… The Origin of Species
Without
a word I rose, pressed my baby to my bosom as if her mother had been left a widow,
and swept away. Percivale started to his feet. I did not see, but I knew he
gazed after me for a moment; then I heard him sit down to his painting as if
nothing had happened […]. For me, I found the precipice, or Jacob's ladder, I
had to climb, very subversive of my dignity; for when a woman has to hold a baby in one
arm, and with the hand of the other lift the front of her skirt in order to
walk up an almost perpendicular staircase, it is quite impossible for her to
“sweep” any more.
George MacDonald… The Vicar's Daughter
Some
remarks of Majendie and others may seem subversive of my theory.
Alexander Philip… A treatise…
You
know already, that, on the road, I had the good fortune to encounter Emily and
her uncle: and the result of that meeting, you perceive, was completely subversive of my emigrating plan.
Sarah Burney… Tales of fancy
English words derived
from Latin vertere: see
INTROVERT.
