The meaning of Subtle

adjective

Difficult to understand; obscure.

Usage examples:

An abstruse philosophical inquiry

adjective

Not known or understood by many people

Usage examples:

An abstruse philosophical essay

adjective

Clever or skilful.

Usage examples:

He was adroit at tax avoidance

adjective

Very skillful and quick in the way you think or move

Usage examples:

She became adroit at dealing with difficult people., he adroitly slid the money into his pocket.

adjective

Clever or skilful, especially in a crafty or cunning way.

Usage examples:

Her artful wiles

adjective

Intelligent and skillful, esp. in persuading, sometimes without being completely honest

Usage examples:

His politics was an artful blend of high-minded patriotism and malicious gossip about his opponents…

adjective

Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

Usage examples:

She was an extremely clever and studious young woman

adjective

Having or showing a quick intelligence in doing something or in persuading people to do something

Usage examples:

It was certainly a clever ad and got a lot of attention., did you notice how she cleverly avoided a…

adjective

Clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods.

Usage examples:

A crafty crook faked an injury to escape from prison

adjective

Skillful in argument but likely to be dishonest

Usage examples:

A crafty lawyer

adjective

Having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion.

Usage examples:

A cunning look came into his eyes

noun

Skill in achieving one's ends by deceit.

Usage examples:

A statesman to whom cunning had come as second nature

adjective

Skillful in planning and ready to deceive people in order to get what you want

Usage examples:

A cunning scheme, they made their way safely back through enemy territory by stealth and cunning.

adjective

Showing a skilful use of underhand tactics to achieve goals.

Usage examples:

He's as devious as a politician needs to be

adjective

Using indirect ways to get what you want, esp. without showing your real purpose

Usage examples:

Devious methods, they went by a devious route.

adjective

Using indirect ways to get what you want, especially without showing your real purpose

Usage examples:

Officials called the company 'devious and underhand'., management seems to have acted deviously and…

adjective

Difficult to find, catch, or achieve.

Usage examples:

Success will become ever more elusive

adjective

Difficult to describe, find, achieve, or remember

Usage examples:

The answers to these questions remain as elusive as ever., success, however, remained elusive for h…

adjective

Of very high quality; very good of its kind.

Usage examples:

This was a fine piece of film-making

noun

Very small particles found in mining, milling, etc.

Usage examples:

It raises dust, separating fines from aggregate.

adverb

In a satisfactory or pleasing manner; very well.

Usage examples:

‘and how's the job-hunting going?’ ‘oh, fine.’

adjective

Lasting for an unknown or unstated length of time.

Usage examples:

They may face indefinite detention

adjective

Not exact or not clear; without clear limits

Usage examples:

It was a wonderful opportunity, but it meant leaving family and friends for an indefinite period, p…

adjective

Not clear or sharply defined.

Usage examples:

His speech was slurred and indistinct

adjective

Not clear

Usage examples:

An indistinct shape/sound/recollection

adjective

(of a person) clever, original, and inventive.

Usage examples:

He was ingenious enough to overcome the limited budget

adjective

(of a person) skilled at inventing new ways to do something, esp. to solve problems, or (of ideas or things) original, and showing esp. the ability to solve problems

Usage examples:

An ingenious engineer/songwriter, she devised an ingenious solution to the problem.

adjective

Extremely small; tiny.

Usage examples:

A minuscule fragment of dna

noun

Minuscule script.

Usage examples:

The humanistic hands of the 15th century were based on the carolingian minuscule

adjective

Extremely small

Usage examples:

Salaries are a minuscule part of the budget.

noun

A period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour.

Usage examples:

We waited for twenty minutes

adjective

Extremely small.

Usage examples:

Minute particles

verb

Record (the proceedings of a meeting).

Usage examples:

The secretary shall minute the proceedings of each meeting

adjective

Of small width in relation to length.

Usage examples:

He made his way down the narrow road

verb

Become or make less wide.

Usage examples:

The road narrowed and crossed an old bridge

noun

A narrow channel connecting two larger areas of water.

Usage examples:

There was a car ferry across the narrows of loch long

adjective

Giving pleasure or satisfaction; pleasant or attractive.

Usage examples:

We had a very nice time

abbreviation

(in england and wales) national institute for health and care excellence.

Pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance

adjective

Excessively fussy or fastidious.

Usage examples:

Mildred was overnice in regard to their father

adjective

Marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or detail.

Usage examples:

Precise directions

adjective

Exact and accurate in form, time, detail, or description

Usage examples:

The precise recipe is a closely guarded secret., years of doing this research had made her very pre…

adjective

Exact and accurate

Usage examples:

The bunker's precise location is a closely guarded secret., he caught me at the precise moment that…

adjective

Having or showing skill.

Usage examples:

A skilful midfielder

adjective

Good at doing something, especially because you have practised doing it

Usage examples:

Police officers have to be skilful drivers., a skilful piece of playing on the clarinet

adjective

Very weak or slight.

Usage examples:

The tenuous link between interest rates and investment

adjective

Weak, unimportant, or in doubt

Usage examples:

The aging dictator’s hold on power is tenuous.

adjective

Consisting of extremely fine (= small or thin) pieces or drops

Usage examples:

People may develop heart disease when they are exposed to ultra-fine particles that are common poll…

adjective

Very delicate and thin

Usage examples:

The ultra-fine wool from the flock is used to make a line of high-end clothing., it's time to swap …

adjective

Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.

Usage examples:

His wily opponents

adjective

Quick to think of things, having a very good understanding of situations and possibilities, and often willing to use tricks to achieve an aim

Usage examples:

A wily hunter