subtlety

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sub·tle·ty

(sŭt′l-tē)

n. pl. sub·tle·ties

1. The quality or state of being subtle.

2. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

subtlety

(ˈsʌtəltɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the state or quality of being subtle; delicacy

2. a fine distinction or the ability to make such a distinction

3. something subtle

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sub•tle•ty

(ˈsʌt l ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. the state or quality of being subtle.

2. acuteness or penetration of mind; delicacy of discrimination.

3. a fine-drawn distinction; refinement of reasoning.

4. something subtle.

[1300–50; < Old French sutilte < Latin subtīlitās; see subtile, -ity]

Subtlety

of sergeants—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486. (From the use of the title sergeant for lawyers, hence, lawyers collectively.)

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	subtlety - a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude; "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"; "don't argue about shades of meaning" nuance, nicety, refinement, shade meaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous"
	2.	subtlety - the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze; "you had to admire the subtlety of the distinctions he drew" niceness difficultness, difficulty - the quality of being difficult; "they agreed about the difficulty of the climb"

subtlety

noun

1. fine point, refinement, nicety, sophistication, delicacy, intricacy, discernment All those linguistic subtleties get lost when a book goes into translation.

2. delicacy, softness, delicateness, subtleness Many of the resulting wines lack the subtlety of the original model.

3. skill, acumen, astuteness, ingenuity, guile, cleverness, deviousness, sagacity, acuteness, craftiness, artfulness, slyness, wiliness She analyses herself with great subtlety.

4. sensitivity, diplomacy, discretion, delicacy, understanding, skill, consideration, judgment, perception, finesse, tact, thoughtfulness, discernment, savoir-faire, adroitness They had obviously been hoping to approach the topic with more subtlety.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

دِقَّه، رِقَّه، ذَكاء، مَهارَه

jemnost

udspekulerethed

Feinheit

διακριτικότητα

sutileza

subtilité finesse nuance

òaî aî vera óljós/hárfínn; kænska

kurnazlık

subtlety

[ˈsʌtltɪ] N

1. (= delicacy, refinement) [of colour, book, humour, person] → sutileza f
his performance lacked subtlety → su actuación carecía de matices
he has all the subtlety of a herd of rhinoceroses → es más bruto que un arao
the subtleties of English → los matices del inglés

2. (= perceptiveness) → perspicacia f, agudeza f
he analyses the situation with great subtlety → analiza la situación con gran perspicacia or agudeza

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

subtlety

[ˈsʌt^əlti] n

(= fine detail) → subtilité f

[work art, film, style] → subtilité f

(= perceptiveness) [person, mind] → subtilité f

(= sensitivity) [approach, manner] → subtilité f

(= delicacy) [flavour, scent, shade] → subtilité f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

subtlety

(= delicacy) → Feinheit f; (of irony, distinction also) → Subtilität f (geh); (of perfume, flavour also, hint, allusion) → Zartheit f; (of charm) → Unaufdringlichkeit f

(= sophistication, of remark, argument, point) → Scharfsinn (→ igkeit f) m, → Spitzfindigkeit f; (of problem) → Subtilität f; (of design, construction, proof) → Raffiniertheit f; his methods lack subtlety → seinen Methoden fehlt (die) Finesse or Subtilität (geh); the subtleties of the novel → die Feinheiten pl → des Romans; subtlety is wasted on him → feine Andeutungen nützen bei ihm nichts

(= discriminative powers, of observer, critic) → Aufmerksamkeit f, → Subtilität f (geh)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

subtlety

[ˈsʌtltɪ] n (see adj) → sottigliezza, delicatezza

subtle

(ˈsatl) adjective

1. faint or delicate in quality, and therefore difficult to describe or explain. There is a subtle difference between `unnecessary' and `not necessary'; a subtle flavour.

2. clever or cunning. He has a subtle mind.

subtlety (ˈsatlti) noun

ˈsubtly adverb

References in classic literature ?

Of all the wondrous devices and dexterities, the sleights of hand and countless subtleties, to which the veteran whaleman is so often forced, none exceed that fine manoeuvre with the lance called pitchpoling.

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The sky over them was like a jewelled cup from which the dusk was pouring; the air was crisp with the compelling tang of the sea, and the whole landscape was infused with the subtleties of a sea evening.

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He well understood the character of his listeners, who were mostly a primitive people in their habits; and who, being a good deal addicted to subtleties and nice distinctions in their religious opinions, viewed the introduction of any such temporal assistance as form into their spiritual worship not only with jealousy, but frequently with disgust.

Then, indeed, it may be humbly hoped that the film which has been spread by the subtleties of earthly arguments will be dissipated by the spiritual light of Heaven; and that our hour of probation, by the aid of divine grace, being once passed in triumph, will be followed by an eternity of intelligence and endless ages of fruition.

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Men, upon too many occasions, do not give their own understandings fair play; but, yielding to some untoward bias, they entangle themselves in words and confound themselves in subtleties.

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Levin had often noticed in discussions between the most intelligent people that after enormous efforts, and an enormous expenditure of logical subtleties and words, the disputants finally arrived at being aware that what they had so long been struggling to prove to one another had long ago, from the beginning of the argument, been known to both, but that they liked different things, and would not define what they liked for fear of its being attacked.

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Spray's hearers, however, were incapable of following his subtleties, and many old-fashioned Dissenters were much pained by his "siding with the Catholics"; while others thought he had better let politics alone.

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He went no farther into the subtleties of evidence: the pressing question, "Where is the money?" now took such entire possession of him as to make him quite forget that the weaver's death was not a certainty.

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"Against the subtleties which would make poetry a study-not a passion-it becomes the metaphysician to reason-but the poet to protest.

View in context

Exhibition chief curator Nato Thompson explains the historic connection in the installation's title: "Subtleties were sugar sculptures that adorned aristocratic banquets in England and France in the Middle Ages, when sugar was strictly a luxury commodity.

A subtlety by Kara Walker: teaching vulnerable art

Readers of the first Delilah Dirk adventure might be surprised that the brash heroine would get involved in the subtleties of an espionage plot, but have no fear: she decidedly does not trade her swords for subtlety.