subtlety
[suht-l-tee]
- the state or quality of being subtle.
- delicacy or nicety of character or meaning.
- acuteness or penetration of mind; delicacy of discrimination.
- a fine-drawn distinction; refinement of reasoning: the subtleties of logic.
- something subtle.
- History/Historical. an elaborate confection, ornate in construction and ornamentation, sometimes edible but more often made and used as a decoration for a table or buffet.
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Origin of subtlety
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for subtlety
Contemporary Examples
Political or not, shown in New York or Budapest, it is a worthy achievement composed with taste and subtlety.
In Hands of Hungarian Artist, Jewish Home Movies of the ’30s a Warning of Coming HolocaustDaniel Genis
October 25, 2014
But Nicki doesn't just tell us she has a big, fat, ass—that would lack craft and subtlety.
Without context, subtlety, and commentary, a parody begins to look eerily like the scenario it is attempting to skewer.
He has none of the subtlety and nuance of black conservative academics such as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.
This is all done with the subtlety of someone wielding a jackhammer.
Historical Examples
However, if the man worked with subtlety, the sea likewise worked with subtlety.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
They bestowed upon him every beauty of person and every subtlety of wit.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
If the emperor say, 'You are speaking of Macedonius; I see your subtlety.
The Formation of Christendom, Volume VIThomas W. (Thomas William) Allies
Karl had not the subtlety to retort, “Ay, but does it say what we like?”
The First ViolinJessie Fothergill
And this notion of his was not any proof of want of subtlety on his part.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
subtlety
- the state or quality of being subtle; delicacy
- a fine distinction or the ability to make such a distinction
- something subtle
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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 subtlety
n.
mid-14c., from Old French soutilte, from Latin subtilitatem (nominative subtilitas), noun of quality from subtilis (see subtle).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper