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  1. subtlety love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The quality or state of being subtle.
  2. n. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Same as subtilty, 1.
  2. n. Acuteness of intellect; delicacy of discrimination or penetration; intellectual activity; subtility.
  3. n. Same as subtilty, 2.
  4. n. Slyness; artifice; cunning; craft; stratagem; craftiness; artfulness; wiliness.
  5. n. Also subtilty.
  6. n. That which is subtle or subtile. Also subtilty. That which is fine-drawn or intricate.
  7. n. That which is intellectually acute or nicely discriminating.
  8. n. That which is of false appearance; a deception; an illusion.
  9. n. Same as subtilty, 6.

Wiktionary

  1. n. uncountable The quality or fact of being subtle.
  2. n. countable An instance of being subtle, a subtle thing, especially a subtle argument or distinction.
  3. n. countable An ornate medieval illusion dish or table decoration, especially when made from one thing but crafted to look like another.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The quality or state of being subtle, or sly; cunning; craftiness; artfulness.
  2. n. Nice discernment with delicacy of mental action; nicety of discrimination.
  3. n. Something that is sly, crafty, or delusive.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze
  2. n. a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

Etymologies

  1. From Old French sutilté, from Latin subtīlitās, from subtīlis ("subtle"). (Wiktionary)

Examples

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. cunning
  1. craftiness
  1. artfulness

hypernyms (6)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. difficultness
  1. difficulty
  1. significance
  1. signification
  1. import
  1. meaning

same context (16)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. ingenuity
  2. delicacy
  3. tact
  1. clearness
  2. originality
  3. quickness
  1. dexterity
  2. complexity
  3. boldness
  1. insight
  2. vigour
  3. simplicity
  1. precision
  2. richness
  3. vivacity
  1. nicety

reverse dictionary (71)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. subtility
  2. subtilty
  3. finesse
  4. outsubtle
  5. overrefine
  6. overrefinement
  7. quiddit
  8. sotil
  9. supersubtlety
  10. free-spoken
  11. argutation
  12. finedrawn
  13. hermaic
  14. Jesuitism
  1. cunning
  2. machismo
  3. fine-spun
  4. Dickinson
  5. refine
  6. obvious
  7. subtilize
  8. simple-minded
  9. tin ear
  10. unsubtle
  11. simple
  12. simple mindedness
  13. straight-from-the-shoulder
  14. crude
  1. fine
  2. simplicity
  3. lightness
  4. muscular
  5. dim-witted
  6. finespun
  7. outspoken
  8. plain-spoken
  9. point-blank
  10. simpleness
  11. transparent
  12. quillet
  13. blunt
  14. broad
  1. candid
  2. delicate
  3. discerning
  4. forthright
  5. frank
  6. megarian school
  7. quaintise
  8. simply
  9. sotilte
  10. subtilism
  11. subtilization
  12. subtleness
  13. allure
  14. Art
  1. artifice
  2. cautel
  3. craft
  4. cunningly
  5. fineness
  6. guile
  7. humor
  8. nicety
  9. pleading
  10. refinement
  11. scholastic
  12. sote
  13. sleight
  14. subtly
  1. wiredraw

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‘subtlety’ has been looked up 2911 times, loved by 3 people, added to 28 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 13.