Subtle — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze

able to make fine distinctions

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/sˈʌɾəl/

🇬🇧British English

/sˈʌtəl/

🇮🇳Indian English

/sˈʌtəl/

1 syllable Say it as /sˈʌɾəl/.

Examples

his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change
a subtle difference
that elusive thing the soul

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

insidious pernicious elusive

Parts of Speech

adjective	difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze “his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change”
adjective	able to make fine distinctions “a subtle mind”
adjective	working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way “glaucoma is an insidious disease”

Word Forms

elude	verb	be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by
elusiveness	noun	the quality of being difficult to grasp or pin down
insidiousness	noun	subtle and cumulative harmfulness (especially of a disease)
perniciousness	noun	grave harmfulness or deadliness

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

subtil

schwer zu erkennen, zu erfassen oder zu analysieren

🇫🇷French

subtil

difficile à détecter ou à saisir par l’esprit ou à analyser

🇪🇸Spanish

sutil

difícil de detectar o captar por la mente o analizar

🇮🇹Italian

impercettibile

difficile da rilevare o afferrare dalla mente o analizzare

🇳🇱Dutch

subtiel

moeilijk te detecteren, te begrijpen door de geest of te analyseren

🇵🇹Portuguese

sutil

difícil de detectar ou compreender pela mente ou analisar

🇷🇺Russian

тонкий

трудно обнаружить или уловить умом или проанализировать

India

🇮🇳Hindi

जटिल

मन द्वारा पता लगाना या समझना या विश्लेषण करना कठिन है

🇧🇩Bengali

সূক্ষ্ম

মন দ্বারা সনাক্ত করা বা উপলব্ধি করা বা বিশ্লেষণ করা কঠিন

🇮🇳Tamil

நுட்பமான

மனதைக் கண்டறிவது அல்லது புரிந்துகொள்வது அல்லது பகுப்பாய்வு செய்வது கடினம்

🇮🇳Telugu

సూక్ష్మమైన

మనస్సు ద్వారా గుర్తించడం లేదా గ్రహించడం లేదా విశ్లేషించడం కష్టం

🇮🇳Marathi

सूक्ष्म

मनाने ओळखणे किंवा आकलन करणे किंवा विश्लेषण करणे कठीण

🇮🇳Gujarati

સૂક્ષ્મ

મન દ્વારા શોધવા અથવા સમજવા અથવા વિશ્લેષણ કરવું મુશ્કેલ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ

ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಿಂದ ಪತ್ತೆಹಚ್ಚಲು ಅಥವಾ ಗ್ರಹಿಸಲು ಅಥವಾ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಿಸಲು ಕಷ್ಟ

🇮🇳Malayalam

സൂക്ഷ്മമായ

മനസ്സുകൊണ്ട് കണ്ടെത്താനോ ഗ്രഹിക്കാനോ വിശകലനം ചെയ്യാനോ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടാണ്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸੂਖਮ

ਦਿਮਾਗ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਖੋਜਣਾ ਜਾਂ ਸਮਝਣਾ ਜਾਂ ਵਿਸ਼ਲੇਸ਼ਣ ਕਰਨਾ ਮੁਸ਼ਕਲ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

ٹھیک ٹھیک

دماغ سے پتہ لگانا یا سمجھنا یا تجزیہ کرنا مشکل

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

微妙的

难以被头脑发现或掌握或分析

🇯🇵Japanese

微妙

心で検出したり把握したり、分析したりするのが難しい

🇰🇷Korean

미묘한

마음으로 감지하거나 파악하거나 분석하기가 어렵습니다.

🇻🇳Vietnamese

tinh tế

khó phát hiện hoặc nắm bắt bằng tâm trí hoặc phân tích

🇹🇭Thai

บอบบาง

ยากที่จะรับรู้หรือเข้าใจด้วยใจหรือวิเคราะห์

🇮🇩Indonesian

tak kentara

sulit dideteksi atau dipahami oleh pikiran atau dianalisis

🇵🇭Filipino

banayad

mahirap tuklasin o hawakan ng isip o pag-aralan

🇲🇾Malay

halus

sukar untuk dikesan atau difahami oleh minda atau dianalisis

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

دقيق

صعوبة اكتشافها أو فهمها بالعقل أو تحليلها

🇮🇷Persian

ظریف

تشخیص یا درک توسط ذهن یا تجزیه و تحلیل دشوار است

🇹🇷Turkish

hemen göze çarpmayan

zihin tarafından tespit edilmesi, kavranması veya analiz edilmesi zor

🇮🇱Hebrew

עָדִין

קשה לזהות או לתפוס על ידי המוח או לנתח

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'subtle'?

The primary meaning of 'subtle' is 'difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'subtle' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'subtle' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'subtle' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'subtle' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'subtle' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'subtle' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'subtle' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'subtle' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'subtle' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'subtle' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted