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.
The narrative around consumer spending has been somewhat nuanced.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Unlike when a club goes into administration, a 'group undertaking' - a company rather than a club - suffering an insolvency event is a more nuanced situation.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The falling birthrate is also a huge factor here, so I interviewed people who don’t have children, who really helped me see how nuanced this all is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
For his part, Connor always feared that the show’s “rose-tinted” approach, though part of the story’s appeal, “would not be nuanced enough to talk about the complexities of being human and being young.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Oppenheimer’s point was more nuanced than it might have seemed on the surface; he was calling for introspection among scientists that had been lacking—and perhaps unnecessary—before the power of fission was unleashed.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
