subversive activity
1
8.5
- noun
- /səbˈvɜːrsɪv ækˈtɪvɪti/
:
actividad subversiva
- Authorities arrested several individuals suspected of engaging in subversive activity to disrupt the election process.
Examples
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Iran stands by, waiting for opportunities to engage in subversive activities.
Academic text (1997) -
So what they're doing is forming a bureau of investigation just to look into subversive activity.
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Conservatives have opposed these moves, fearing subversive activities as a result.
Fiction book (1995) -
There was no evidence in Dennis that the defendants actually participated in any acts of subversive activity or advocated such acts.
Academic text (1996) -
The FBI's investigative file on Hemingway called this "subversive" activity.
Academic text (2017) -
The government's concern with subversive activity from this group ran so high that even the 140 Italian Americans living in Alaska were not spared the scrutiny of the FBI.
Academic text (2003) -
Teaching, as Nell Postman says, is a subversive activity—all the more so today, when children are marinated in cultural messages from the moment they're born.
Academic text (2007) -
Fiddling around with the lake, or "shaking it up," is, in Venda, a deeply subversive activity for which Mudzunga landed a two-year stint in jail in 2001-2002.
Academic text (2006) -
The activists organized protests as a form of subversive activity against the government's policies.
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The documentary exposed the subversive activity that aimed to undermine democracy in the country.
Synonyms
23
5.7
A secret action by a government or army to avoid being noticed
8
8.0
To try to weaken or overthrow a government
Antonyms
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward adjectival modification: 'subversive' (aiming to undermine authority) qualifies 'activity' (actions), so the combined meaning — actions intended to undermine or overthrow authority — is directly derivable from the parts. This adjective + noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Subversive activity comes from old words: subversive from words meaning 'under' and 'turn', and activity meaning action. Imagine people quietly digging under a wall to make it fall — that picture shows why subversive activity means secret actions that try 'to overthrow' or weaken a government.