nuance

[noo-ahns, nyoo-, noo-ahns, nyoo-; French ny-ahns]

See more synonyms for nuance on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural nu·anc·es

[noo-ahn-siz, nyoo-, noo-ahn-siz, nyoo-; French ny-ahns] /ˈnu ɑn sɪz, ˈnyu-, nuˈɑn sɪz, nyu-; French nüˈɑ̃s/.

a subtle difference or distinction in expression, meaning, response, etc.
a very slight difference or variation in color or tone.

Origin of nuance

1775–85; < French: shade, hue, equivalent to nu(er) to shade (literally, to cloud < Vulgar Latin *nūbāre, derivative of *nūba, for Latin nūbēs cloud) + -ance -ance

Related formsnu·anced, adjectiveun·nu·anced, adjective

Synonyms for nuance

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1. subtlety, nicety, hint, refinement.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for nuance

hint, subtlety, gradation, nicety, refinement, distinction, implication, degree, shade, trace, dash, suspicion, suggestion, touch, shadow, tinge

Examples from the Web for nuance

Contemporary Examples of nuance

He has none of the subtlety and nuance of black conservative academics such as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.
The Conservatives' Great Black Hope
Evan Gahr
May 19, 2014
What these trips show is that there is a bit of nuance to life in North Korea.
North Korean Tourism: There’s an App for That
Cristian Salazar
May 10, 2014
I do not envy him this ministry of reconciliation, which is fraught with complexity and nuance.
What the Archbishop of Canterbury Should Have Said About Gay Rights
Gene Robinson
April 13, 2014
Mistakes happen, nuance is often lost, and everything is seen through a prism of who is winning and who is losing.
When Campaign Spin Becomes Fact
Stuart Stevens
March 21, 2014
Perhaps they're loath to identify themselves with a worldview that leaves so little room for nuance.
Welcome to Glenn Greenwald, Inc.?
Lloyd Grove
February 10, 2014

Historical Examples of nuance

There was a nuance of profound bewilderment in her exclamation.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
They do not understand me; the big noisy boors do not understand rhythm or nuance.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
He was the master of the nuance, and the nuance was his lyricism, his special gift, his genius.
Adventures in the Arts
Marsden Hartley
Of course I don't expect you, just at first, to feel the difference, to see the nuance.
The Reef
Edith Wharton
The sand is fine as face powder, nuance Rachel, packed hard.
Mr. Incoul's Misadventure
Edgar Saltus

British Dictionary definitions for nuance

nuance

noun

a subtle difference in colour, meaning, tone, etc; a shade or graduation

verb (tr; passive)

to give subtle differences tocarefully nuanced words

Word Origin for nuance

C18: from French, from nuer to show light and shade, ultimately from Latin nūbēs a cloud

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nuance

1781, from French nuance "slight difference, shade of color" (17c.), from nuer "to shade," from nue "cloud," from Gallo-Romance *nuba, from Latin nubes "a cloud, mist, vapor," from PIE *sneudh- "fog" (cf. Avestan snaoda "clouds," Latin obnubere "to veil," Welsh nudd "fog," Greek nython, in Hesychius "dark, dusky"). According to Klein, a reference to "the different colors of the clouds."

1886, from nuance (n.). Related: Nuanced.

nuance in Culture

nuance

[(nooh-ahns)]

A fine shade of meaning: “I liked the film, but I know I missed some of its nuances.”