subtlety
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From Middle English sotilte, from Old French sutilté, inherited from Latin subtīlitās, from subtīlis (“subtle”). Equivalent to subtle + -ty. Doublet of subtility.
Base: subtle
Affixes: -ty
Inflected forms:
form: subtleties
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: subtilty
pos: noun
tags: alternative
archaic
Senses:
gloss: The quality of being subtle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: the subtlety of the Mona Lisa’s smile
[H]e had a lifetime of skill in interpreting his father's gestures: those bent knees meant that something of great subtlety was about to be revealed.
gloss: The quality of being subtle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: the subtlety of a writer’s analysis / of a singer’s phrasing
Something kinda sad about / The way that things have come to be / Desensitized to everything / What became of subtlety? / How can this mean anything to me / If I really don't feel anything at all?
gloss: The quality of being subtle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: With all his usual subtlety, he quietly fixed the problem before anyone else noticed it.
European women often boss their men too, but with a beguiling subtlety unknown to most American females.
gloss: The quality of being subtle.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
his subtilty in thinking and reasoning were profound,
gloss: An instance of being subtle, a subtle thing, especially a subtle argument or distinction.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: The subtleties of this overture are often overlooked.
1561, William Whittingham et al. (translators), Geneva Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 8.8,
[S]he [Wisdom] knoweth the subtilties of wordes, and the solutions of darke sentences:
For I, and no doubt You, have long obſerved, that thoſe Dialectical ſubtleties, that the Schoolmen too often employ about Phyſiological Myſteries, are vvont much more to declare the vvit of him that uſes them, then increaſe the knovvledge or remove the doubts of ſober lovers of truth. And such captious ſubtleties do indeed often puzzle and ſometimes ſilence men, but rarely ſatisfy them.
It is your turn now […] to support your philosophical subtilties against the dictates of plain reason and experience.
She could not explain the subtleties of her feeling as clearly as he could state his opinion, even though she had skill in speech, and her father had none.
His body was as insensitive to pain as was his mind to subtleties.
Most cinema signposts everything and—to quote the phrase apocryphically ^([sic]) attributed to Billy Wilder—makes everything obvious, especially the subtleties.
gloss: An ornate medieval illusion dish or table decoration, especially when made from one thing but crafted to look like another.
pos: noun
tags: countable
historical
examples: At the king's coronation feast, several subtleties were served between main courses.
the seruice […] was sumpteous, with many subtleties, straunge deuises, with seuerall poses, and many deintie dishes.
gloss: The quality of being clever in surreptitious or deceitful behaviour; an act or argument that shows this quality.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
uncountable
examples: When eyther Hare or Deare, or any other chase vseth subtleties to deceyue the houndes, we saye they crosse or double.
[She] resolued now with plainnesse to winne trust, which trust she might after deceyue with a greater subtletie.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
[…] the Spy was deceiv’d rather by the Art and Subtlety of Ulysses, than by his Falshood.
Mr. Elliot’s subtleties, in endeavouring to prevent [the marriage]
gloss: A trick that creates a false appearance.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: You doe yet taste / Some subtleties o’ th’ Isle, that will not let you / Beleeue things certaine:
gloss: The property of having a low density or thin consistency.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: 1630, Thomas Johnson (translator/editor), A Treatise of the Plague […] Collected out of the workes of […] Ambrose Parey, London, Chapter 11, p. 33,
Therefore at Paris where naturally, and also through the aboundance of filth that is about the Citie, the Aire is darke and grosse, the pestilent Infection is lesse fierce and contagious then it is in Prouince, for the subtletie of the Aire stimulates or helps forward the Plague.
About the Air is to be considered, its Temperature as to Heat, Dryness and Moisture, and the Measures of them, its Weight, Clearness, Refractive Power, its Subtilty or Grosness […]
gloss: The property of being able to penetrate materials easily.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: Hence we see the amazing Subtlety of this Fire, which pervades Glass as readily as if nothing were in the Way.
Derived words: oversubtlety
supersubtlety
Translations:
lang: Asturian
word: sutileza
lang: Catalan
word: subtilesa
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 微妙
roman: wēimiào
lang: Czech
word: jemnost
lang: Czech
word: prchavost
lang: Czech
word: delikátnost
lang: Czech
word: decentnost
lang: Finnish
word: hienovaraisuus
lang: French
word: subtilité
lang: Galician
word: sutileza
lang: German
word: Geschicklichkeit
lang: German
word: Feinheit
lang: German
word: Feinsinn
lang: German
word: Feinsinnigkeit
lang: German
word: Raffinesse
lang: German
word: Raffiniertheit
lang: German
word: Scharfsinn
lang: German
word: Scharfsinnigkeit
lang: German
word: Subtilität
lang: German
word: Zartheit
lang: Greek
word: λεπτότητα
roman: leptótita
lang: Italian
word: sottigliezza
lang: Japanese
word: 微妙
roman: bimyō
lang: Latin
word: argūtiae
lang: Latin
word: subtīlitās
lang: Polish
word: subtelność
lang: Polish
word: delikatność
lang: Portuguese
word: sutileza
lang: Portuguese
word: subtileza
lang: Russian
word: то́нкость
roman: tónkostʹ
lang: Spanish
word: delicadeza
lang: Spanish
word: sutileza
lang: Spanish
word: sutilidad
lang: Swedish
word: subtilitet
lang: Turkish
word: incelik
lang: Turkish
word: kurnazlık
lang: Turkish
word: zekilik
lang: Turkish
word: ustalık
lang: Turkish
word: anlaşılmazlık