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?
We do a lot of painstaking research into how real animals move, how their muscles and skin behave ... and then in the computer, we recreate all these things, an artist, like an animator, has to sit down and actually hand animate that eye, hand animate that face so that every little subtle nuance is represented.
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year
The impacts are perhaps subtle but profound, to stop this [ trend ], we really need to get to net-zero [ emissions ], and many countries have plans but not enough actions to support those. In the meantime, we must prepare better and build resilience.
It's certainly a concern for financial firms...since it increases the cost of trading, i see it as a not-so-subtle attempt to show that Bloomberg the candidate is not afraid to hurt the clients of Bloomberg the business in order to appeal to Democratic voters.
Made from scratch but easy to make. This is a creamy and satisfying combination of a classic fall flavor — butternut squash — along with a delicious blend of three cheeses, subtle spices and pasta.
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
Get even more translations for subtle »
Translation
Find a translation for the subtle synonym in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add these synonyms to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"subtle." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 May 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/subtle>.
Discuss these subtle synonyms with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In