Subtle Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

The meaning of subtle is hard to notice or see : not obvious. See more meanings of subtle. How to use subtle in a sentence. Why is there a 'b' in subtle? Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut subtle adjective SaveWord sub·​tle |\ˈsə-tᵊl \ subtler\ ˈsət-​lər ,ˈsə-​tᵊl-​ər \;subtlest\ ˈsət-​ləst ,ˈsə-​tᵊl-​əst \ EssentialMeaningofsubtle 1 :hardtonoticeorsee:notobvious asubtledifferenceinmeaningbetweenthewordssubtlechanges/variationsSeeMoreExamplesthesubtlestdetailsRacialdiscriminationstillexists,onlynowit'ssubtlerthanitoncewas.subtleflavorsHide 2 :cleverandindirect:notshowingyourrealpurpose Whenitcomestogivingcriticism,sometimesit'sbesttotakeasubtleapproach.Hedidn'tseemtounderstandmysubtlehints.Itwashersubtlewayoftellingmetomindmyownbusiness. 3 :havingorshowingskillatrecognizingandunderstandingthingsthatarenotobvious:perceptive Shehasasubtlemind.asubtleanalysis FullDefinitionofsubtle 1a :delicate,elusive asubtlefragranceHiseyeshadapeculiar,subtlerayinthem—notagleam.—TheodoreDreiserThepeppersalsohaveapleasanthintofsweetness,whichgivesdishesfeaturingthemasubtlerichness.—KimMarcus…floweringkaleisthechiccaterer'sdream,itssubtlehuesandfluffyformsidealforfillingouttabledisplays…—ElizabethSchneider b :difficulttounderstandorperceive:obscuresense1c asubtletruthasubtlechangesubtledifferencesinsoundThedraftersofthebillhadmadeasubtlebutimportanterror…—JonathanMahlerUnlikewolves,whoseeminsomesubtlewaytochoosetheirpreyforpursuit,cougarswaitinhidingtomakeashortrushatanyanimalthathappensby.—ChrisBolgianoManygrammarianshavemadesubtledistinctionsbetweenthesetwowords…—CharlesEinstein c :cleverandindirect:disguisedinpurpose Sheturnedtomeandbeganaskingquestions,ignoringmysubtlehintsthatIwasbusy.—ClaySmithThenegativelabels[giventoyoungpeople]arenot-so-subtlepropaganda.—DavidLipskyetal. 2 :havingorinvolvingkeenperceptionorinsight asubtlescholarthewriter'ssubtleearfordialogueasubtleunderstandingofhumannatureThesuccessofmanyofthenewvegetariandishesdependsontheheightenedculinaryintelligence,subtlesenseoftaste,andwell-honedcookingskillsthatthecurrentgenerationofhobbychefshasdevelopedoverthepastdecade.—JinxMorgan 3a :highlyskillful:expert asubtlecraftsmanThediscoveriesdonotmeanthathackershaveafreerideintoaWebdeveloper'ssystem….Eveninthecaseofthemostseriousflaw,itwouldtakeasubtlehackertoexploitit…—JeremyCarl b :cunninglymadeorcontrived:ingenious …aremarkablysubtleportrayalofanationovertakenbyanOrwelliannightmare.—JoanPodhoretz 4 :artful,crafty Thislittleknotofsubtleschemerswillcontroltheconvention,and,throughit,dictatetotheparty.—NathanielHawthorne…theywillallimagineyouareengagedinasubtleplan…tocheatthem.—DennisJosephEnright 5 :operatinginsidiously subtlepoisonsAh,shallowasitis,yet,howsubtleathingissuspicion,whichattimescaninvadethehumanestofheartsandwisestofheads.—HermanMelville OtherWordsfromsubtle Synonyms&Antonyms Whyistherea"b"insubtle? MoreExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutsubtle OtherWordsfromsubtle subtleness \ ˈsə-​tᵊl-​nəs \ noun subtly \ ˈsət-​lē ,ˈsə-​tᵊl-​(l)ē \ adverb Synonyms&Antonymsforsubtle Synonyms artful, beguiling, cagey (alsocagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chieflyBritish], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, tricky, wily Antonyms artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning VisittheThesaurusforMore  Whyistherea"b"insubtle? Ifyouknowthiswordbysight,youmightnotknowhowtosayit.Andifyouknowitinconversationyoumightnotknowhowtospellit. Forthoseofyouinthefirstcamp,we'llgiveyouahint:that"b"issubtle.Sosubtle,infact,astonotbeheardatall.It'sasilent"b,"likethe"b"inthumbanddebt.Thewordactuallyrhymeswithshuttle. Andforthoseinthesecondcamp:thisisthewordthatsoundslikeitshouldbespelled"suttle." Sowhatisthatpesky"b"doingthereanyway?Isthatsubatthebeginningofthewordrelatedtothesubinsubmarineandsubterranean? Yes,itis.SubtlecomesultimatelyfromaLatinpair:theprefixsub-,meaning"under,"andtela,meaning"web."ThetwowerejoinedinLatinsubtilis,meaning"finelywoven."Thewordwasliteral;itwasoriginallyaweavingterm.Butovertimesubtilisdevelopedfigurativeuses,andwasappliedinmanycasesinwhichthewordfinewouldworkaswell:todescribedetails,distinctions,andtastes,amongotherthings. WhensubtlecametofirstbeusedinMiddleEnglishitsmeaningwasverymuchinthissamelineage.Itmeant"perceptive,refined,"andwasusedtodescribepeopleknownfortheirclearthinking—suchasphilosophers—andthings,suchasanalysisorreasoning,thatdemonstratedsuchthinking. Onemorethingaboutthespellingofsubtle:likemanywordsthathavebeeninthelanguageforcenturies,thisonetooknumerousformsbeforesettlingintoitscurrentspelling.Manyoftheformsdidn'tincludethe"b"atall—andit'sbelievedthatthe"b"wasprobablyneverpronouncedinEnglish.The"b"spellingsthatwereusedwereanodtotheLatinsubtilis.Andmuchtothechagrinofthoseinfavorofphoneticspellingstoday,oneofthemcameoutontop. ExamplesofsubtleinaSentence AlthoughartistsandpatronsinVenicestillsoughtimagesofidealfigures,theyinsistedthatthisimageryberootedinamoresubtleandinsightfulinterpretationofhumanlifeandcharacter. —AndrewButterfield,NewYorkReviewofBooks,16July2009 Thesedays,someofthemostexcitingcookingwithbrownriceistakingplaceinJapan,wherepurveyorsarebeginningtoembracethesubtlevariationsthatcanbeachievedthroughcustom-millingandcooksarerepurposingtraditionaltechniquesanddishestoaccommodatethefood'sflavorsandtextures. —KarenShimizu,Saveur,May2008 Thelanguageofthefacecommunicatesmaximuminformationthroughthesubtlestinflections.Theinterfacesofoursoulsaredesignedtobereadinaheartbeat. —SteveSilberman,Wired,May2003 asubtledifferenceinmeaningbetweenthewords Racialdiscriminationstillexists,onlynowit'ssubtlerthanitoncewas. Whenitcomestogivingcriticism,sometimesit'sbesttotakeasubtleapproach. Hedidn'tseemtounderstandmysubtlehints. Itwashersubtlewayoftellingmetomindmyownbusiness. Shehasasubtlemind. SeeMore RecentExamplesontheWeb Butelectionconsequencesareoftenmoresubtlethanthat. — GilbertGarcia,SanAntonioExpress-News,27Nov.2021 Yet,growingconditionsinyourhomedochangeinseveralsubtlewaysduringthecolder,darkermonthsoftheyear. — MeganHughes,BetterHomes&Gardens,9Nov.2021 ThepandemicappearstobewindingdownintheUnitedStatesinathousandsubtleways,butwithoutanysingularmilestone,oracymbal-crashingannouncementoffreedomfromthevirus. — TheWashingtonPost,ArkansasOnline,1Nov.2021 ThepandemicappearstobewindingdownintheUnitedStatesinathousandsubtleways,butwithoutanysingularmilestone,oracymbal-crashingannouncementoffreedomfromthevirus. — JoelAchenbachAndYasmeenAbutaleb,AnchorageDailyNews,31Oct.2021 Lackofsleepmayaffectyourabilitytomoveyourbodyandnavigateinsubtleways. — BruceY.Lee,Forbes,31Oct.2021 Instead,fashionisincorporatingbutterfliesinsubtle,minimalways,includingprintsandabstractembellishments,thatmakethetrendlooksophisticated. — FrancesSolá-santiago,refinery29.com,28Oct.2021 Elliottattunesherselftothefamily’sfrequency,noticingwhatteachersandsocialworkersoftenmiss:thesecretlanguageofsisters,thesubtlewaysDasanitrammelsherselftouplifthermother. — NewYorkTimes,30Sep.2021 Therearealsosubtleways,Walshsaid,inwhichtheprocesscanbeexploited. — SteveLopezColumnist,LosAngelesTimes,25Sep.2021 Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'subtle.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. SeeMore FirstKnownUseofsubtle 14thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedatsense4 HistoryandEtymologyforsubtle MiddleEnglishsotil,subtile,fromAnglo-French,fromLatinsubtilis,literally,finelytextured,fromsub-+telaclothonaloom;akintoLatintexeretoweave—moreattechnical LearnMoreAboutsubtle Sharesubtle PosttheDefinitionofsubtletoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofsubtleonTwitter TimeTravelerforsubtle Thefirstknownuseofsubtlewas inthe14thcentury Seemorewordsfromthesamecentury DictionaryEntriesNearsubtle subtitular subtle subtlety SeeMoreNearbyEntries  Statisticsforsubtle LastUpdated 3Dec2021 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Subtle.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subtle.Accessed3Dec.2021. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MoreDefinitionsforsubtle subtle adjective sub·​tle |\ˈsə-tᵊl \ subtler\ ˈsət-​lər \;subtlest\ ˈsət-​ləst \ KidsDefinitionofsubtle 1 :difficulttoperceive TherewasasubtlechangeinMissLavendar'svoice.—LucyMaudMontgomery,AnneofAvonlea 2 :shrewd,keen subtlequestions 3 :delicatesense1 asubtlefragrance OtherWordsfromsubtle subtly \ ˈsət-​lē \ adverb MorefromMerriam-Websteronsubtle Nglish:TranslationofsubtleforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationofsubtleforArabicSpeakers WORDOFTHEDAY galvanize SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary DifficultSpellingWordsQuiz Whichisthecorrectspelling? acommadate acommodate accomodate accommodate Testyourknowledge-andmaybelearnsomethingalongtheway. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! 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