subtlety

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The quality of being subtle.

   “the subtlety of the Mona Lisa’s smile”

   “[H]e had a lifetime of skill in interpreting his father's gestures: those bent knees meant that something of great subtlety was about to be revealed.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The quality of being subtle.

   “the subtlety of a writer’s analysis / of a singer’s phrasing”

   “Something kinda sad about / The way that things have come to be / Desensitized to everything / What became of subtlety? / How can this mean anything to me / If I really don't feel anything at all?”

3. (countable, uncountable)The quality of being subtle.

   “With all his usual subtlety, he quietly fixed the problem before anyone else noticed it.”

   “European women often boss their men too, but with a beguiling subtlety unknown to most American females.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The quality of being subtle.

   “To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.”

   “his subtilty in thinking and reasoning were profound,”

5. (countable)An instance of being subtle, a subtle thing, especially a subtle argument or distinction.

   “The subtleties of this overture are often overlooked.”

   “1561, William Whittingham et al. (translators), Geneva Bible, Wisdom of Solomon 8.8, [S]he [Wisdom] knoweth the subtilties of wordes, and the solutions of darke sentences:”

   “For I, and no doubt You, have long obſerved, that thoſe Dialectical ſubtleties, that the Schoolmen too often employ about Phyſiological Myſteries, are vvont much more to declare the vvit of him that uſes them, then increaſe the knovvledge or remove the doubts of ſober lovers of truth. And such captious ſubtleties do indeed often puzzle and ſometimes ſilence men, but rarely ſatisfy them.”

   “It is your turn now […] to support your philosophical subtilties against the dictates of plain reason and experience.”

   “She could not explain the subtleties of her feeling as clearly as he could state his opinion, even though she had skill in speech, and her father had none.”

6. (countable, historical)An ornate medieval illusion dish or table decoration, especially when made from one thing but crafted to look like another.

   “At the king's coronation feast, several subtleties were served between main courses.”

   “the seruice […] was sumpteous, with many subtleties, straunge deuises, with seuerall poses, and many deintie dishes.”

7. (archaic, countable, uncountable)The quality of being clever in surreptitious or deceitful behaviour; an act or argument that shows this quality.

   “When eyther Hare or Deare, or any other chase vseth subtleties to deceyue the houndes, we saye they crosse or double.”

   “[She] resolued now with plainnesse to winne trust, which trust she might after deceyue with a greater subtletie.”

   “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

   “[…] the Spy was deceiv’d rather by the Art and Subtlety of Ulysses, than by his Falshood.”

   “Mr. Elliot’s subtleties, in endeavouring to prevent [the marriage]”

8. (countable, obsolete)A trick that creates a false appearance.

   “You doe yet taste / Some subtleties o’ th’ Isle, that will not let you / Beleeue things certaine:”

9. (obsolete, uncountable)The property of having a low density or thin consistency.

   “1630, Thomas Johnson (translator/editor), A Treatise of the Plague […] Collected out of the workes of […] Ambrose Parey, London, Chapter 11, p. 33, Therefore at Paris where naturally, and also through the aboundance of filth that is about the Citie, the Aire is darke and grosse, the pestilent Infection is lesse fierce and contagious then it is in Prouince, for the subtletie of the Aire stimulates or helps forward the Plague.”

   “About the Air is to be considered, its Temperature as to Heat, Dryness and Moisture, and the Measures of them, its Weight, Clearness, Refractive Power, its Subtilty or Grosness […]”

10. (obsolete, uncountable)The property of being able to penetrate materials easily.

    “Hence we see the amazing Subtlety of this Fire, which pervades Glass as readily as if nothing were in the Way.”