'Subtle' definitions:
Definition of 'subtle'
From: WordNet
adjective
Difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze; "his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change"; "a subtle difference"; "that elusive thing the soul" [syn: elusive, subtle]
adjective
Able to make fine distinctions; "a subtle mind"
adjective
Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison" [syn: insidious, pernicious, subtle]
Definition of 'Subtle'
From: GCIDE
- Subtle \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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- Things remote from use, obscure and subtle. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Smooth and deceptive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground [bowling ground]. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'subtle'
From: GCIDE
- Subtile \Sub"tile\, a. [L. subtilis. See Subtile.]
- 1. Thin; not dense or gross; rare; as, subtile air; subtile vapor; a subtile medium. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Delicately constituted or constructed; nice; fine; delicate; tenuous; finely woven. "A sotil [subtile] twine's thread." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- More subtile web Arachne can not spin. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- I do distinguish plain Each subtile line of her immortal face. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Acute; piercing; searching. [1913 Webster]
- The slow disease and subtile pain. --Prior. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Characterized by nicety of discrimination; discerning; delicate; refined; subtle. [In this sense now commonly written subtle.] [1913 Webster]
- The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtile, without being at all acute; hence there is so much humor and so little wit in their literature. The genius of the Italians, on the contrary, is acute, profound, and sensual, but not subtile; hence what they think to be humorous, is merely witty. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
- The subtile influence of an intellect like Emerson's. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Sly; artful; cunning; crafty; subtle; as, a subtile person; a subtile adversary; a subtile scheme. [In this sense now commonly written subtle.] [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Subtile, Acute.
- Usage: In acute the image is that of a needle's point; in subtile that of a thread spun out to fineness. The acute intellect pierces to its aim; the subtile (or subtle) intellect winds its way through obstacles. [1913 Webster] -- {Sub"tile*ly}, adv. -- {Sub"tile*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'subtle'
From: GCIDE
- Subtile \Sub"tile\, a. [L. subtilis. See Subtile.]
- 1. Thin; not dense or gross; rare; as, subtile air; subtile vapor; a subtile medium. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Delicately constituted or constructed; nice; fine; delicate; tenuous; finely woven. "A sotil [subtile] twine's thread." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- More subtile web Arachne can not spin. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- I do distinguish plain Each subtile line of her immortal face. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Acute; piercing; searching. [1913 Webster]
- The slow disease and subtile pain. --Prior. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Characterized by nicety of discrimination; discerning; delicate; refined; subtle. [In this sense now commonly written subtle.] [1913 Webster]
- The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtile, without being at all acute; hence there is so much humor and so little wit in their literature. The genius of the Italians, on the contrary, is acute, profound, and sensual, but not subtile; hence what they think to be humorous, is merely witty. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
- The subtile influence of an intellect like Emerson's. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Sly; artful; cunning; crafty; subtle; as, a subtile person; a subtile adversary; a subtile scheme. [In this sense now commonly written subtle.] [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Subtile, Acute.
- Usage: In acute the image is that of a needle's point; in subtile that of a thread spun out to fineness. The acute intellect pierces to its aim; the subtile (or subtle) intellect winds its way through obstacles. [1913 Webster] -- {Sub"tile*ly}, adv. -- {Sub"tile*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'subtle'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abstruse,
- accurate,
- acute,
- adulterated,
- air-built,
- airy,
- analytic,
- analytical,
- appreciative,
- arcane,
- arch,
- artful,
- astute,
- attentive,
- attenuate,
- attenuated,
- balled up,
- boyish,
- Byzantine,
- 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,
- Machiavellian,
- Machiavellic,
- 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