subtle

pronunciation

How to pronounce subtle in British English: UK [ˈsʌtl]word uk audio image

How to pronounce subtle in American English: US [ˈsʌtl] word us audio image

  • Adjective:
    be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind
    faint and difficult to analyze
    able to make fine distinctions
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way

Word Origin

subtle
subtle: [14] Latin subtīlis, the ultimate source of English subtle, seems to have originated as a weaving term. It probably goes back ultimately to the phrase sub tēla ‘beneath the lengthwise threads in a loom’ (tēla, source of English toilet and toils, was a contraction of *texla, a relative of English textile). As this was lexicalized via *subtēlis to subtīlis, it developed the meaning ‘finely woven’, which subsequently broadened out to ‘fine, thin’. By the time it reached English, via Old French sutil, it had evolved further, to ‘making fine discriminations’.=> textile, toilet
subtle (adj.)
c. 1300 (mid-13c. as a surname), sotil, "penetrating; ingenious; refined" (of the mind); "sophisticated, intricate, abstruse" (of arguments), from Old French sotil, soutil, subtil "adept, adroit; cunning, wise; detailed; well-crafted" (12c., Modern French subtil), from Latin subtilis "fine, thin, delicate, finely woven;" figuratively "precise, exact, accurate," in taste or judgment, "fine, keen," of style, "plain, simple, direct," from sub "under" (see sub-) + -tilis, from tela "web, net, warp of a fabric" (see texture (n.)). From early 14c. in reference to things, "of thin consistency;" in reference to craftsmen, "cunning, skilled, clever;" Depreciative sense "insidious, treacherously cunning; deceitful" is from mid-14c. Material senses of "not dense or viscous, light; pure; delicate, thin, slender; fine, consisting of small particles" are from late 14c. sotil wares were goods sold in powdered form or finely ground. Partially re-Latinized in spelling, and also by confusion with subtile.

Antonym

adj.

simple

Example

1. The reality is more subtle .
2. The connection is more subtle .
3. Your problem is surprisingly subtle .
4. Yet subtle changes are afoot .
5. The agreed changes are subtle .

more: >How to Use "subtle" with Example Sentences