What is another word for subtle?
Synonyms for subtle
ˈsʌt lsub·tle
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word subtle.
Wiktionary
English Synonyms and Antonyms
subtle
Acute, from the Latin, suggests the sharpness of the needle's point; keen, from the Saxon, the sharpness of the cutting edge. Astute, from the Latin, with the original sense of cunning has come to have a meaning that combines the sense of acute or keen with that of sagacious. The astute mind adds to acuteness and keenness an element of cunning or finesse. The astute debater leads his opponents into a snare by getting them to make admissions, or urge arguments, of which he sees a result that they do not perceive. The acute, keen intellect may take no special advantage of these qualities; the astute mind has always a point to make for itself, and seldom fails to make it. A knowing look, air, etc., in general indicates practical knowledge with a touch of shrewdness, and perhaps of cunning; in regard to some special matter, it indicates the possession of reserved knowledge which the person could impart if he chose. Knowing has often a slightly invidious sense. We speak of a knowing rascal, meaning cunning or shrewd within a narrow range, but of a knowing horse or dog, in the sense of sagacious, implying that he knows more than could be expected of such an animal. A knowing child has more knowledge than would be looked for at his years, perhaps more than is quite desirable, while to speak of a child as intelligent is altogether complimentary.
Synonyms:
acute, astute, clear-sighted, crafty, cunning, discerning, discriminating, keen, knowing, penetrating, penetrative, perspicacious, sagacious, sharp, shrewd, subtileAntonyms:
blind, dull, idiotic, imbecile, shallow, short-sighted, stolid, stupid, undiscerning, unintelligent
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
subtle
Synonyms:
sly, artful, cunning, insinuating, wily, astute, nice, discriminating, crafty, fine, shrewd, sophistical, jesuiticalAntonyms:
open, frank, honest, artless, undiscriminating, rough, blunt, undiscerning, unsophisticated, simple
Princeton's WordNet
elusive, subtleadjective
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
"his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change"; "a subtle difference"; "that elusive thing the soul"
Synonyms:
pernicious, baffling, problematic, knotty, tough, insidious, elusive, problematicalAntonyms:
tangible, unperceptive, harmless, palpable, unperceivingsubtleadjective
able to make fine distinctions
"a subtle mind"
Synonyms:
insidious, elusive, perniciousAntonyms:
tangible, harmless, palpable, unperceptive, unperceivinginsidious, pernicious, subtleadjective
working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
"glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison"
Synonyms:
pestilent, elusive, baneful, pernicious, insidious, deadlyAntonyms:
unperceiving, tangible, unperceptive, harmless, palpable
Dictionary of English Synonymes
subtleadjective
Synonyms:
crafty, cunning, artful, sly, wily, arch, astute, designing, intriguing, insinuating, crooked, tricky, diplomatic, machiaveliansubtleadjective
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
PPDB, the paraphrase database
List of paraphrases for "subtle":
delicate, sophisticated, discreet, nuanced, cunning, perceptive
Suggested Resources
subtle
Song lyrics by subtle -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by subtle on the Lyrics.com website.
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#1114 | fine | |
#1157 | nice | |
#3091 | sharp | |
#4704 | knowing | |
#4924 | tough | |
#5690 | acute | |
#6642 | sophisticated | |
#9200 | deadly | |
#9217 | keen | |
#9840 | subtle | |
#11658 | delicate | |
#13204 | discreet | |
#14988 | problematic | |
#20139 | elusive | |
#22283 | penetrating | |
#23246 | sly | |
#24948 | discerning | |
#25806 | crafty | |
#26623 | cunning | |
#29124 | discriminating | |
#34018 | astute | |
#34606 | skillful | |
#35834 | artful | |
#39559 | insidious | |
#43378 | perceptive | |
#44318 | shrewd | |
#48711 | pernicious | |
#48777 | wily | |
#51400 | nuanced | |
#53611 | baffling | |
#68031 | knotty | |
#106936 | insinuating | |
#107333 | problematical | |
#127341 | sagacious | |
#132519 | baneful | |
#135647 | penetrative | |
#206784 | subtile | |
#223678 | sophistical | |
#245384 | pestilent | |
#268563 | perspicacious |
How to use subtle in a sentence?
In fact, minstrel blackface has emerged into even more subtle forms of racism that are now glorified all over the Internet.
God created the world to be praised on the subtle nature of his existence.
We found out that each eye has a different role. We have the tracking eye that will continue tracking the target and the converging eye that will converge to the tracking eye and eventually she will choose that target. We found out that each eye has a different subtle pattern of eye movements according to her role. So even before the chameleon chose one of the targets, I could tell by the subtle patterns of the eye which one she is going to go for.
It's just hard to be funny, everybody kind of thinks they're funny or wants to be funny, but even the people that are great at being funny aren't funny a lot of the time because it's just a tricky, subtle thing that evokes that response of laughter [from an audience].
Racism against people of Asian descent has been subtle in Germany, but it has always been here, with this recent coronavirus outbreak, it has just gotten worse... we are basically stuck between getting ridiculed and being the recipient of disgust.
Translations for subtle
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- رقيقArabic
- subtilCatalan, Valencian
- scharfsinnig, spitzfindig, fast unmerklich, feinsinnig, raffiniert, haarfein, ausgetüftelt, schlau, dezentGerman
- διακριτικόGreek
- subtilaEsperanto
- sutilSpanish
- hienoinen, salakavala, ovela, hienovarainenFinnish
- délicat, subtilFrench
- caolchúiseach, glicIrish
- דק, עלום, טמיר, עדין, חמקמק, מרומז, עמום, מעודןHebrew
- सूक्ष्मHindi
- kifinomultHungarian
- halusIndonesian
- sottile, inafferrabileItalian
- 捕らえ難い, 巧妙Japanese
- ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮKannada
- 세밀한Korean
- subtelnyPolish
- sutilPortuguese
- хитрый, неуловимый, коварныйRussian
- subtilSwedish
- நுட்பமானTamil
- kurnazca, güç algılanan, mâhirâne, zor algılanan, ustaca, sinsice, zekîceTurkish
- 微妙Chinese
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Translation
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"subtle." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/subtle>.
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