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subtle - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'subtle' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Subtle [ superl.]
- Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe.
- Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem.
- 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.
- Smooth and deceptive.

Meaning of 'subtle' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . subtle [ s]
Meaning (1):
- difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
Example in sentence:
  • a subtle difference;
  • his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change;
  • that elusive thing the soul
Meaning (2):
- able to make fine distinctions
Example in sentence:
  • a subtle mind
Meaning (3):
- working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
Example in sentence:
  • a subtle poison;
  • glaucoma is an insidious disease

Nearby Words:

sub sub judice sub- sub-base sub-bass subacid subacrid subacromial subact subaction

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