About The Word Subtle
Learn about the word Subtle to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Subtle definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.
Subtle
| Subtle Definition And Meaning |
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What's The Definition Of Subtle?
[adj] faint and difficult to analyze; "subtle aromas"
[adj] working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison" [adj] 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" [adj] able to make fine distinctions; "a subtle mind" Synonyms | Synonyms for Subtle: delicate | elusive | harmful | impalpable | insidious | perceptive | pernicious Related Terms | Find terms related to Subtle: See Also | Subtle In Webster's Dictionary \Sub"tle\, a. [Compar. {Subtler}; superl. {Subtlest}.]
[OE. sotil, subtil, OF. soutil, later subtil, F. subtil, L.
subtilis; probably, originally, woven fine, and fr. sub under
+ tela a web, fr. texere to weave. See {Text}, and cf.
{Subtile}.]
1. Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; --
applied to persons; as, a subtle foe. ``A subtle
traitor.'' --Shak.
2. Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle
stratagem.
3. Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing
distinctions; nicely discriminating; -- said of persons;
as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous;
insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; -- said of
the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle
intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of
thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.
Things remote from use, obscure and subtle.
--Milton.
4. Smooth and deceptive. [Obs.]
Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground [bowling
ground]. --Shak.
Syn: Artful; crafty; cunning; shrewd; sly; wily.
Usage: Subtle is the most comprehensive of these epithets and
implies the finest intellectual quality. See {Shrewd},
and {Cunning}.
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