Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Subtle.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Tenuous; thin; extremely fine; rare; rarefied: as, subtile vapor; subtile odors or effluvia; a subtile powder; a subtile medium. Also subtle.
- Delicately constituted, made, or formed; delicately constructed; thin; slender; fine; delicate; refined; dainty. Also subtle.
- Sharp; penetrating; piercing.
- Same as subtle, 3.
- Same as subtle, 4.
- Same as subtle, 5.
- Same as subtle, 7.
- To contrive or practise cunningly.
- To scheme or plan cunningly.
- To tamper; meddle.
Wiktionary
- adj. obsolete subtle
GNU Webster's 1913
Etymologies
- From Latin subtilis ("fine, thin, slender, delicate"), perhaps, from sub ("under") + tela ("a web, fabric"); see tela, toil. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French subtil, from Latin subtīlis, fine, delicate; see subtle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“_ I heard Uncle Sam read the first three chapters of Genesis, which he translated into his own lingo as he went along, calling the subtile serpent the most "amiable" of beasts, and ignoring gender, person, and number in an astonishing manner.”
Letters from Port Royal Written at the Time of the Civil War (1862-1868)
“Indeed, one of the most exclusive formulations against every possible kind of subtile synergism is found in Article XI when it teaches that the reason why some are converted and saved while others are lost, must not be sought in man, _i. e._, in any minor guilt or less faulty conduct toward grace shown by those who are saved, as compared with the guilt and conduct of those who are lost.”
Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
“While the key to exploring the world and discovering key resources and the holdings of other nations is to walk across as many tiles as possible, your sovereign can also perform "subtile" movements within a single tile to explore that tile's contents, which will come into play with the game's various quests.”
GameSpot's News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features
“Vaisampayana said, "That which is the twenty-fifth (in the enumeration of topics as made in the Sankhya system) viz., when it becomes able to abstain entirely from acts, succeeds in attaining to the Purushottama which is exceedingly subtile, which is invested with the attribute of”
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12
“There is a lot to be said for the small and subtile illustrations in these books.”
“Mr Hatch has such a "well dressed" subtile quality about his racist views.”
“It was an alchemy of soul occultly subtile and profoundly deep -- a mysterious emanation of the spirit, seductive, sweetly humble, and terribly imperious.”
“Thought out well, subtile, useable in many applications and nice renders – especially the one of the hands”
“The difference is subtile, and is technically probably not meaningful… but “randomness” feels like it drags in some unrelated and imprecise baggage.”
Randomly growing an embryo. It can work. - The Panda's Thumb
“The difference is subtle, perhaps as subtle as the difference between subtile and subtle, but that is the appropriate term.”
Randomly growing an embryo. It can work. - The Panda's Thumb
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘subtile’.
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Browning words of cotton - often stic...
words that meander or have a partial dimension:
words that "catch on": peano curves: fractalitescotton, clue, filament, filaria, filum, filovirus, clod, cloud, peano curve, alveoli, nuance, noil and 122 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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The Whiteness of the Whale
Words in Melville's "Moby Dick"
grapnels, spile, pea coffee, farrago, grego, bosky, bombazine, brevet, cenotaph, cupidity, kelson, obliquity and 164 more...
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Delicate, Fine, Light, Thin
Adjectives meaning delicate, fine, light, thin
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A Dalliance of Dahlias
For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names I
Tulip Names II: You Know My Name
A Myriad of Iriia la mode, ace o' hearts, acclimation, adhesion, admirable, adorable you, advance, affirmed, after glow, agricola, alabama melody, alabaster queen and 1152 more...
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"A List of His MAJESTY's Ships and Ve...
Boston: Re-Printed and Sold at J. Draper's Printing-Office in Newbury-Street. (Price Sixteen Pence single.)
See the companion list, A LIST of the Men of War the French have left," 174...apollo, deptford, portsmouth, princess royal, scarborough, sutherland, william and mary, mary, fubbs, dublin, charlotte, catherine and 302 more...
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lil_grammar_nazi's list
Main list
acerbic, spiteful, vindictive, curmudgeon, dog in the manger, pious, histrionic, unprecedented, bumptious, abscond, abject, accost and 161 more...
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Difficult to Understand
Words meaning difficult to understand
abstruse, subtile, subtle, covert, mystic, mystical, mysterious, diffuse, abstract, exquisite, obnubilous, obnubilate and 12 more...
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Arranged Words
cosmetic, cosmos, ranch, range, rank, rink, rucksack, crissum, circinate, circadian, circus, cirque and 51 more...
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Rare or Rarefied
Words meaning rare or rarefied.
Tweets
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