Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The quality or state of being subtle.
- n. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as subtilty, 1.
- n. Acuteness of intellect; delicacy of discrimination or penetration; intellectual activity; subtility.
- n. Same as subtilty, 2.
- n. Slyness; artifice; cunning; craft; stratagem; craftiness; artfulness; wiliness.
- n. Also subtilty.
- n. That which is subtle or subtile. Also subtilty. That which is fine-drawn or intricate.
- n. That which is intellectually acute or nicely discriminating.
- n. That which is of false appearance; a deception; an illusion.
- n. Same as subtilty, 6.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable The quality or fact of being subtle.
- n. countable An instance of being subtle, a subtle thing, especially a subtle argument or distinction.
- 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
- n. The quality or state of being subtle, or sly; cunning; craftiness; artfulness.
- n. Nice discernment with delicacy of mental action; nicety of discrimination.
- n. Something that is sly, crafty, or delusive.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze
- n. a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
Etymologies
- From Old French sutilté, from Latin subtīlitās, from subtīlis ("subtle"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Yes, "she pursued with greater energy," what you call subtlety of argument is but force of conviction.”
The Canadian Brothers, or the Prophecy Fulfilled a Tale of the Late American War — Complete
“I initially found it strange as well, but I wonder if the lack of subtlety is deliberate.”
“Your subtlety is lost even upon the bishops and priests who should know better, as I have seen them condemn all gays and gay rights initiatives as a moral evil that destroys the family.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Enough with the Ridiculous Hyperbole!
“I guess that subtlety is wasted on you buggers but I do appreciate the backup nonetheless.”
Cheeseburger Gothic » Open for business. The new renovated Ladies Lounge.
“When facing an enemy who could rip you apart with his strength or his mind, subtlety is how you avoid ending up in the morgue!”
“Just look at the poster; subtlety is lost on these morons.”
“That we can buy student safety by repressing free discourse; that subtlety is impossible and will lead to irresponsibility, lawlessness, who knows what social ills.”
“M. Night's idea of subtlety is to make the moral of this movie the only theory that's given any substantial screen time, and then repeat it ad nauseum, in such a ham-fisted, poorly scripted manner that during the movie, people (myself included) laughed out loud at 'serious' moments, and before it was halfway over, handfuls of people had walked out.”
Sound Off: The Happening - What Did You Think? « FirstShowing.net
“The Serpent not only refers to a legless creature that slithers around in subtlety it also meant “Beguiling, wise, and beautiful.””
Must Watch: Bill Maher's Religulous Trailer! « FirstShowing.net
“Since subtlety is nowhere to be found, the actors are merely there to serve the Racer universe.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘subtlety’.
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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bianca's euphonic list
paprika, poignant, poignancy, viscous, subtlety, robust, vehicular, combustion, viscosity, velocity, rotunda, malignant and 18 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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Listless
Nowhere else to put these yet.
sibilant, cloying, pithy, apologia, odyssey, amanuensis, pleasantries, ginormous, burnish, sojourn, quonset, over-under and 217 more...
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artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
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luckylime's Words
cacophony, cascade, trigger, crunch, vellum paper, arduous, luminescent, voluminous, euphoric, bucolic, diaphanous, danger and 162 more...
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Poetrie: "For I Will Consider My Cat ...
An excerpt from Jubilate Agno, written by Christopher Smart between 1759 and 1763 during his confinement for "lunacy" at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethnal Green, London.
For I will...consider, cat, jeoffry, servant, living god, duly, worship, wreathing, elegant quickness, leaps up, musk, blessing and 145 more...
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Words That Populate My Mind
This is a collection of words I love, old ones that I love the sound of when I repeat them for years and new ones coined in news articles on up and coming trends and technologies - most of them I k...
aroma, mojo, blithely, fringe, fray, synchronicity, doublespeak, buzzword, thoughtcrime, portmanteau, newspeak, oldspeak and 963 more...
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2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for subtlety.

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