subtle
Meaning
- Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood.
- Barely noticeable, not obvious, indistinct.
- Cleverly contrived.
- Cunning, skillful.
- Insidious.
- Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
- (obsolete) Refined; exquisite.
Synonyms
subtile
witty
poignant
slight difference
too fine
observing with subtlety
of subtle imagination
stricky
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈsʌt(ə)l/
Etymology
From Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil, borrowed from Old French soutil, subtil, from Latin subtīlis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”); probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub (“under”) + tēla (“a web”), from texere (“to weave”). Displaced native Old English smēag (literally “creeping”).
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