subtle
Part of speech: adj
noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: nautical
transport
Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil (“of a person, the mind, etc.: clever, ingenious, penetrating; cunning, sly; insidious; delicate, fine; not dense, light, thin; finely powdered; narrow, slender; etc.”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman sotel, subtil, sutil, Middle French soutil, subtil, sutil, and Old French sotil, soutil, subtil, sutil (“of an object: skilfully designed or made; delicate, fine; slender, thin; of an intangible thing: difficult to understand; of a person: discerning, shrewd; devious, sly; etc.”) (modern French subtil), from Latin subtīlis (“of texture: delicate, fine; slender, thin; accurate, keen; having fine judgment; etc.”), from sub (“below, under”) + tēla (“warp (threads running lengthwise in a loom); web”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tetḱ- (“to create, produce; to cut, hew”), from *teḱ- (“to beget, sire”)). The word displaced Old English smēag (literally “creeping”).
The modern and Middle English (and French) spellings with -b- are influenced by Latin subtīlis; the letter was probably never pronounced.
The noun is derived from Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil (“wise person; sophisticated people collectively”), from the adjective.
Inflected forms:
form: subtler
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more subtle
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: subtlest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most subtle
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: subtil
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: subtile
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: subtill
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: suttle
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: the subtle
pos: noun
tags: canonical
form: subtles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: subtling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: subtled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: subtled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
examples: The mighty Magnet from the Center darts / This ſtrong, tho' ſubtile Force, thro' all the Parts: / Its active Rays ejaculated thence, / Irradiate all the wide Circumference.
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: historical
gloss: Senses relating to tangible things.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
examples: The difference between the tones is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.
Although the show gradually grows more subtle, much of the early writing that establishes the characters is so on the nose it hurts. Any time we see Walt [Walter White] in class, it’s certain that what he writes on the chalkboard will echo events in his secret life.
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
examples: [T]his heauenly foode is giuen for the ſatisfying of our emptie ſoules, and not for the exerciſing of our curious and ſubtle vvits.
Lords and Commons of England, conſider vvhat Nation it is vvherof ye are, and vvherof ye are the governours: a Nation not ſlovv and dull, but of a quick, ingenious, and piercing ſpirit, acute to invent, ſuttle and ſinevvy to diſcours, not beneath the reach of any point the higheſt that human capacity can ſoar to.
VVhen ſubtle VVits have ſpun their thred too fine, / Tis vveak and fragile like Arachnes line: […]
[Tomaso] Malvenda, a Spaniſh divine, vvho took the conduct of the debate on the part of the Catholics, managed it vvith all the ſubtle dexterity of a ſcholaſtic metaphyſician, more ſtudious to perplex his adverſaries than to convince them, and more intent on palliating error than on diſcovering truth.
The most subtle and powerful intellects have been labouring for centuries to solve these difficulties.
Like a peripatetic philosopher, Mr. Verloc, strolling along the streets of London, had modified Stevie's view of the police by conversations full of subtle reasonings.
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
examples: And if King Edward be as true and iuſt, / As I am Subtle, Falſe, and Treacherous, […]
As for thee, false friend, subtle fox, unfaithful servant, this long time am I grown weary of thee slinking up and down my palace devising darkly things I know not: thou, that art nought akin to Witchland, but an outlander, a Goblin exile, a serpent warmed in my bosom to my hurt.
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: If thou thinke thy ſelfe well fenſed and ſure, / Againſt euery ſottle ſuggeſtion of vice, / Conſider fraile glaſſe may no diſtres endure, / And great aduentures oft curſe the dire: […]
By vnion of the Godhed to the manhod, manne was ioyned to God whiche before by the temptacion of the ſubtle ſerpente, was from hym ſegregate and deuided.
Yea, rede Terence and Plaut[us] aduiſedlie ouer, and ye ſhall finde in thoſe two wiſe writers, almoſt in euery commedie, no vnthriftie yong man, that is not brought there vnto, by the ſotle inticement of ſom lewd ſeruant.
He that is ſuttleleſt and fulleſt of ſhiftes, is the handſommeſt man: and ſuch kinde of dealing is eſteemed as a vertue.
A ſubtle Traitor needs no Sophiſter.
Is not thy kindneſſe ſubtle, couetous, / If not a Vſuring kindneſſe, and as rich men deale Guifts, / Expecting in returne tvventy for one?
Now the ſerpent was more ſubtill then any beaſt of the field, which the lord God had made, and he ſaid vnto the woman, Yea, hath God ſaid, Ye ſhall not eat of euery tree of the garden?
Hovv ſoon hath Time the ſuttle theef of youth, / Stoln on his vving my three and tvventith yeer!
[H]e held on / His midnight ſearch, vvhere ſooneſt he might fine / The Serpent: him faſt ſleeping ſoon he found / In Labyrinth of many a round ſelf-rovvld, / His head the midſt, vvell ſtor'd vvith ſuttle vviles: […]
VVhy ſhould that / Cauſe thy [Jesus's] refuſal, ſaid the ſubtle Fiend [Satan], / Haſt thou not right to all Created things, / Ovve not all Creatures by juſt right to thee / Duty and Service, nor to ſtay till bid, / But tender all their povver?
Geryon, arise! and Gorgon, / Chimæra, and thou Sphinx, subtlest of fiends / Who ministered to Thebes Heaven's poisoned wine, / Unnatural love, and more unnatural hate: / These shall perform your task.
[T]hrough their ears, / The subtle witchcraft of his tongue / Unlocked the hearts of those who keep / Gold, the world's bond of slavery.
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: Like to a Bovvle vpon a ſubtle ground / I haue tumbled paſt the throvv: […]
[V]pon Tityus his breſt, that (for ſixe of the nine acres) is counted the ſubtleſt bovvling-ground in all Tartary.
gloss: Senses relating to intangible things.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: People or things that are subtle (adjective sense) as a class.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: To make (something) subtle (“giving only a slight impression; also, skilfully restrained or understated”).
pos: verb
tags: US
transitive
gloss: To burn (someone or something) to ash.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
rare
transitive
examples: A fire ſubtle ye, are ye ſo crafty.
Synonyms: subtle
tricky
nice
delicate
knotty
Antonyms: manifest
obvious
simple
Derived words: nonsubtle
oversubtle
oversubtlety
subtely
subtile
subtilise
subtilize
subtilist
subtlist
subtle body
subtle jack
subtlely
subtleness
subtleship
subtlety
subtly
supersubtle
supersubtlety
suprasubtle
suprasubtlety
suttle
ultrasubtle
unsubtle
unsubtleness
unsubtlety
unsubtly
outsubtle
subtling
Translations: