subtle
Adjective Satellite
- difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
- "his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change"
- "a subtle difference"
- able to make fine distinctions
- "a subtle mind"
- working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
- "a subtle poison"
Adj
- Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood.
- Barely noticeable, not obvious, indistinct.
- Cleverly contrived.
- Designed to blend in; inconspicuous, nonintrusive.
- Cunning, skillful.
- Insidious.
- Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
- Refined; exquisite.
Adjective
- So delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or detect.
Examples
- Her play was so SUBTLE, her opponent didn’t realize she’d set up a triple-word score.
- The difference is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil, borrowed from Old French soutil, subtil, from Latin subtīlis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”); probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub (“under”) + tēla (“a web”), from texere (“to weave”). Displaced native Old English smēag (literally “creeping”).
Synonyms
elusive, insidious, pernicious, crafty, cunning, deceptive, delicate, dim, fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined, ill-marked, indefinite, indistinct, indistinguishable, knotty, malicious, muzzy, nice, obscure, skillful, subtle, tricky, undefined, vague
Scrabble Score: 8
subtle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordsubtle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
subtle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary