nuanced
Americanadjective
-
expressing or involving subtle distinctions.
Their opinions are always nuanced and informing.
Life is wonderfully nuanced, textured, complicated, beautiful, and rich.
-
characterized by slight difference or variation in color, tone, flavor, etc.
Dawn and dusk imposed softer, darker shades of nuanced, shadowed light.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nuanced
Explanation
Something that's nuanced has subtle details that make it complex and interesting. A nuanced conversation isn't just small talk — it really makes you think. Nuanced is one of those words that attempts to capture an elusive quality. When a book or movie is described as nuanced, it implies a work that's meaningful and complicated, with relationships between characters that seem as multi-layered and subtle as real life. Nuance means "slight degree of difference," from the French nuer, "to shade," and a Latin root that means "a cloud or vapor."
Vocabulary lists containing nuanced
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Love Radio
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Gather
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Research published since the 2025 analysis makes the picture more nuanced.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
That suggests something more nuanced than an exodus.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The sweetness of the vegetables became more nuanced instead of landing like a sledgehammer.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
Yet he confronts the nuanced situation in Europe in facile terms, seemingly unable to perceive shades of gray.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
This is an intriguing statistic: the same people who routinely steal more than 10 percent of his bagels almost never stoop to stealing his money box—a tribute to the nuanced social calculus of theft.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
