Dictionary Definition
subtle adj
1 be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind;
"his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change"; "a subtle
difference"; "that elusive thing the soul" [syn: elusive]
2 faint and difficult to analyze; "subtle
aromas"
3 able to make fine distinctions; "a subtle
mind"
4 working or spreading in a hidden and usually
injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle
poison" [syn: insidious, pernicious]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
sotil, subtil, soutil, later subtil, subtil, subtilis; probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub + tela, from texere.Pronunciation
- , /ˈsʌt(ə)l/, /"sVt(@)l/
- Rhymes: -ʌtəl
Adjective
- Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.
- The difference is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.
- In the context of "of a thing": Cleverly contrived.
- In the context of "of a person or animal": Cunning, skillful.
- insidious
- William
Shakespeare,
The Tragedy of Richard the Third, act iv, scene 4
- Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous.
- William
Shakespeare,
The Tragedy of Richard the Third, act iv, scene 4
Translations
hard to grasp
cleverly contrived
- Swedish: subtil
insidious
- Finnish: salakavala
- Swedish: subtil
References
Extensive Definition
- Subtle, a musical group consisting of members of the anticon. hip-hop collective;
- Doctor Subtilis, John Duns Scotus;
- Subtle body, an idea in mysticism;
- The Subtle Knife, a novel by Philip Pullman and the second book in the trilogy His Dark Materials.
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Byzantine, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, abstruse, accurate, acute, adulterated, air-built,
airy, analytic, analytical, appreciative, arcane, arch, artful, astute, attentive, attenuate, attenuated, balled up,
boyish, cagey, calculating, canny, casuistic, chimerical, civilized, clever, close, cloud-built, complex, complicated, concealed, confounded, confused, conscientious, constant, convoluted, correct, crabbed, crafty, creamy, critical, cultivated, cultured, cunning, cut, cute, daedal, dainty, deceitful, deceptive, deep, deep-laid, delicate, demanding, designing, detailed, devious, dexterous, diaphanous, differential, dilute, diluted, diplomatic, direct, discriminate, discriminating, discriminative, distinctive, distinguishing, dreamlike, eggshell, elaborate, elegant, elusive, embrangled, entangled, ethereal, even, exact, exacting, exigent, express, exquisite, faint, faithful, fanciful, fastidious, fatuitous, fatuous, feline, fine, fine-drawn, finespun, finical, finicking, finicky, flat, flimsy, fouled up, foxy, frail, fussy, gaseous, gauzy, girlish, gloss, gossamer, gossamery, graceful, gracile, gracious, guileful, hairline, hairsplitting, hidden, illusory, imaginary, implicated, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, ingenious, insidious, insubstantial, intricate, inventive, involuted, involved, iridescent, knotted, knowing, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, lacy, light, loused up, many-faceted,
mathematical,
matted, mazy, meandering, mellow, messed up, meticulous, micrometrically
precise, microscopic, minute, misty, mixed up, mother-of-pearl,
mucked up, multifarious, nacreous, narrow, nebulous, nice, obscure, opalescent, pale, papery, particular, pastel, patinaed, pawky, pearly, perplexed, phantomlike, pinpoint, polished, politic, precise, precisianistic, precisionistic, profound, punctilious, punctual, quiet, ramified, rare, rarefied, ratiocinative, ready, recondite, refined, religious, religiously exact,
remote, resourceful, rigid, rigorous, roundabout, sad, scheming, scientific, scientifically
exact, screwed up, scrupulous, scrutinizing, selective, semigloss, sensitive, serpentine, severe, shadowy, sharp, shifty, shrewd, simple, skillful, slender, slenderish, slick, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slimy, slinky, slippery, sly, small, smarmy, smart, smooth, snaky, snarled, sneaky, sober, soft, soft-colored, soft-hued,
softened, somber, sophistical, sophisticated, spirituous, square, stealthy, strategic, strict, subdued, subtile, supple, svelte, sweet, sylphlike, tactful, tactical, tangled, tangly, tender, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set,
thin-spun, thinned,
thinned-out, thinnish,
threadlike, trickish, tricksy, tricky, twisted, uncompact, uncompressed, underhanded, undeviating, unerring, unreal, unsubstantial, vague, vaporous, veiled, vulpine, wary, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, willowy, wily, windy, wiredrawn, wispy