Subtlety

How to spell subtlety

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce subtlety

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does subtlety mean?

1. nounThe quality of being delicate, understated, or fine in distinction, so that it is not immediately obvious.
2. nounA fine or delicate distinction that is easy to overlook.

Subtlety in a sentence

• The negotiator handled the dispute with great subtlety, avoiding any open conflict.

• The lecturer explained one legal subtlety that changed how the whole contract was read.

• The painting rewards close study because so much of its subtlety is in the shading.

• A single subtlety in the wording determined who owed the tax.

Where does subtlety come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective subtilis, which meant 'fine', 'thin', or 'finely woven'. The most popular explanation breaks subtilis into sub, meaning 'under', and tela, meaning 'a woven web' or 'the warp of a loom', so the original image was of a thread fine enough to pass under the woven threads on a loom. From that literal sense of physical fineness, Latin extended the word to mean precise, delicate, and intellectually sharp. English borrowed it through Old French, where it appeared as sotil and subtil, and Middle English spellings such as 'sotilte' and 'subtilte' circulated for a time before scholars deliberately restored the silent 'b' to honour the Latin form. That learned restoration is precisely the spelling trap today: the 'b' is written but never pronounced, and the ending lands as a quiet '-tlety'.

How the word is built

• subtle (from Latin subtilis: fine, delicate)
• -ty (noun-forming suffix denoting quality or state)