subtle as an adjective: - 1
- 2
- 3
subtle
adjective
1 subtle
Difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze:
— His whole attitude had undergone a subtle change.
— A subtle difference.
synonym: elusive.
Roget 32:
small,
little;
diminutive
etc.
(small in size)
193;
minute;
fine;
inconsiderable,
paltry
etc.
(unimportant)
643;
faint
etc.
(weak)
160;
slender,
light,
slight,
scanty,
scant,
limited;
meager
etc.
(insufficient)
640;
sparing;
few
etc.
103;
low,
so-so,
middling,
tolerable,
no great shakes;
below par,
under par,
below the mark;
at a low ebb;
halfway;
moderate,
modest;
tender,
subtle.
inappreciable,
evanescent,
infinitesimal,
homeopathic,
very small;
atomic,
corpuscular,
microscopic,
molecular,
subatomic.
mere,
simple,
sheer,
stark,
bare;
near run.
dull,
petty,
shallow,
stolid,
ungifted,
unintelligent.
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2 subtle
Able to make fine distinctions.
3 subtle
Working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way:
— A subtle poison.
synonyms: insidious, pernicious.
Roget 702:
cunning,
crafty,
artful;
skillful
etc.
698;
subtle,
feline,
vulpine;
cunning as a fox,
cunning as a serpent;
deep,
deep laid;
profound;
designing,
contriving;
intriguing
etc.
v.;
strategic,
diplomatic,
politic,
Machiavelian,
timeserving†;
artificial;
tricky,
tricksy†;
wily,
sly,
slim,
insidious,
stealthy;
underhand
etc.
(hidden)
528;
subdolous†;
deceitful
etc.
545;
slippery as an eel,
evasive
etc.
623;
crooked;
arch,
pawky†,
shrewd,
acute;
sharp,
sharp as a tack,
sharp as a needle†;
canny,
astute,
leery,
knowing,
up to snuff,
too clever by half,
not to be caught with chaff.
tactful,
diplomatic,
politic;
polite
etc.
894.
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Moby thesaurus: Byzantine, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, abstruse, accurate, acute, adulterated, air-built, airy, analytic, analytical, appreciative, arcane, arch, artful, astute, attentive, attenuate, attenuated, balled up, boyish, cagey, calculating, canny, casuistic, chimerical, civilized, clever, close, cloud-built, complex, complicated, concealed, confounded, confused, conscientious, constant, convoluted, correct, crabbed, crafty, creamy, critical, cultivated, cultured, cunning, cut, cute, daedal, dainty, deceitful, deceptive, deep, deep-laid, delicate, demanding, designing, detailed, devious, dexterous, diaphanous, differential, dilute, diluted, diplomatic, direct, discriminate, discriminating, discriminative, distinctive, distinguishing, dreamlike, eggshell, elaborate, elegant, elusive, embrangled, entangled, ethereal, even, exact, exacting, exigent, express, exquisite, faint, faithful, fanciful, fastidious, fatuitous, fatuous, feline, fine, fine-drawn, finespun, finical, finicking, finicky, flat, flimsy, fouled up, foxy, frail, fussy, gaseous, gauzy, girlish, gloss, gossamer, gossamery, graceful, gracile, gracious, guileful, hairline, hairsplitting, hidden, illusory, imaginary, implicated, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, ingenious, insidious, insubstantial, intricate, inventive, involuted, involved, iridescent, knotted, knowing, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, lacy, light, loused up, many-faceted, mathematical, matted, mazy, meandering, mellow, messed up, meticulous, micrometrically precise, microscopic, minute, misty, mixed up, mother-of-pearl, mucked up, multifarious, nacreous, narrow, nebulous, nice, obscure, opalescent, pale, papery, particular, pastel, patinaed, pawky, pearly, perplexed, phantomlike, pinpoint, polished, politic, precise, precisianistic, precisionistic, profound, punctilious, punctual, quiet, ramified, rare, rarefied, ratiocinative, ready, recondite, refined, religious, religiously exact, remote, resourceful, rigid, rigorous, roundabout, sad, scheming, scientific, scientifically exact, screwed up, scrupulous, scrutinizing, selective, semigloss, sensitive, serpentine, severe, shadowy, sharp, shifty, shrewd, simple, skillful, slender, slenderish, slick, slight, slight-made, slim, slimmish, slimy, slinky, slippery, sly, small, smarmy, smart, smooth, snaky, snarled, sneaky, sober, soft, soft-colored, soft-hued, softened, somber, sophistical, sophisticated, spirituous, square, stealthy, strategic, strict, subdued, subtile, supple, svelte, sweet, sylphlike, tactful, tactical, tangled, tangly, tender, tenuous, thin, thin-bodied, thin-set, thin-spun, thinned, thinned-out, thinnish, threadlike, trickish, tricksy, tricky, twisted, uncompact, uncompressed, underhanded, undeviating, unerring, unreal, unsubstantial, vague, vaporous, veiled, vulpine, wary, wasp-waisted, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, willowy, wily, windy, wiredrawn, wispy ... show more.
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