subtile
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of subtile
1325–75; Middle English < Latin subtīlis fine (originally of fabric), equivalent to sub- sub- + -tīlis, akin to tēla cloth on a loom, loom (< *tekslā, derivative of texere to weave; see text)
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.
See Examples For:
Recent scientific discoveries have conferred upon man new powers of investigation, whereby nature has been made to reveal secrets so subtile that they never had been dreamt of before in philosophy.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 13, 2013
At Paris the Universe is seen, compos’d of Vortices of subtile Matter; but nothing like it is seen in London.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Whence comes this man with his new poetry, which confounds the critics? and that man with his subtile wit borrowed from no school?
From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by William Chauncey Bartlett
Nor wanting was the choral song, Swelling in silvery chimes of sweetness; To sound of which this subtile throng Advanced in playful grace and fleetness.
From Fairy Legends and Traditions of The South of Ireland by T. Crofton Crocker
Very beautiful, too, was their copy of Guido's Aurora, and yet less difficult than the other, the coloring being at once less subtile and more brilliant.
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Julia Ward Howe
No, his temperament needed a subtiler atmosphere than this, rarer essence than mere brutal freedom The East, the Old World, was his proper sphere for self-development.
From Margret Howth, a Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis
It is the subtiler nature of doubt to penetrate the heart more profoundly than confidence, and to underlie it.
From Two Days' Solitary Imprisonment 1898 by Edward Bellamy
Gradually he wove a drama round it; line by line it took shape for a book that was to be subtiler, finer and more sincere than anything that he had ever written.
From The Education of Eric Lane by Stephen McKenna
What if, through communication with subtiler organisms than my own, I could reach at a single bound the goal, which perhaps a life of agonizing mental toil would never enable me to attain?
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 03, January, 1858 by Various
No, his temperament needed a subtiler atmosphere than this, rarer essence than mere brutal freedom.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 50, December, 1861 by Various
Of the most noysom poyson that euer was mingled with the subtilest druggs that euer were.
From The Palace of Pleasure Volume 3 by William Painter
In such spaces he may dream his dreams, tell his stories, and stamp on them for centuries his subtilest and divinest thoughts.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 799, April 25, 1891 by Various
Truth is a point; the subtilest and finest; harder than adamant; never to be broken, worn away, or blunted.
From Imaginary Conversations and Poems A Selection by Walter Savage Landor
Said to us, during the past season, the subtilest thinker of Great Britain,—"I must send to America whatever I wish to put in print, unless I pay for its publication from my own pocket."
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 12, October, 1858 by Various
He saw it was lovable, and he made it the theme of his noblest poems, his subtilest philosophies, and his highest Art.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 44, June, 1861 Creator by Various
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