adjective (subtler, subtlest)
HELPNOTE more subtle is also common.
1 (often approving) not very noticeable or obvious:
subtle colours / flavours * subtle changes / differences / distinctions * The fragrance is a subtle blend of jasmine and sandalwood. * She's been dropping subtle hints about what she'd like as a present.
2 (of a person or their behaviour) behaving in a clever way, and using indirect methods, in order to achieve sth:
There was nothing subtle or sophisticated about him. * I decided to try a more subtle approach.
3 organized in a clever way:
a subtle strategy / plan / technique * a subtle use of lighting in the play
4 good at noticing and understanding things:
The job required a subtle mind.
subtly adverb:
Her version of events is subtly different from what actually happened. * Not very subtly, he raised the subject of money. * Government policy has already shifted subtly.
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
This entry for subtle is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Does subtle appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — subtle appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
