'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

Words containing 'Subtle'