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subtlety

American  
[suht-l-tee] / ˈsʌt l ti /

noun

plural

subtleties

  1. the state or quality of being subtle.

  2. delicacy or nicety of character or meaning.

  3. acuteness or penetration of mind; delicacy of discrimination.

  4. a fine-drawn distinction; refinement of reasoning.

    the subtleties of logic.

  5. something subtle.

  6. 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.

subtlety British  
/ ˈsʌtəltɪ /

noun

  1. the state or quality of being subtle; delicacy

  2. a fine distinction or the ability to make such a distinction

  3. something subtle

"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

Other Word Forms

  • hypersubtlety noun
  • nonsubtlety noun
  • oversubtlety noun

Etymology

Origin of subtlety

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English subtelte, sutilte, from Old French sutilte, from Latin subtīlitāt-, stem of subtīlitās “fineness,” equivalent to subtīli(s) “fine, slender” ( subtile ) + -ty 2

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.