2. Delicately constituted or constructed; nice; fine;
delicate; tenuous; finely woven. ``A sotil [subtile]
twine's thread.'' --Chaucer.
More subtile web Arachne can not spin. --Spenser.
I do distinguish plain Each subtile line of her
immortal face. --Sir J.
Davies.
3. Acute; piercing; searching.
The slow disease and subtile pain. --Prior.
5. Characterized by nicety of discrimination; discerning;
delicate; refined; subtle. [In this sense now commonly
written {subtle}.]
The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely
subtile, without being at all acute; hence there is
so much humor and so little wit in their literature.
The genius of the Italians, on the contrary, is
acute, profound, and sensual, but not subtile; hence
what they think to be humorous, is merely witty.
--Coleridge.
The subtile influence of an intellect like
Emerson's. --Hawthorne.
5. Sly; artful; cunning; crafty; subtle; as, a subtile
person; a subtile adversary; a subtile scheme. [In this
sense now commonly written {subtle}.]
Usage: In acute the image is that of a needle's point; in
subtile that of a thread spun out to fineness. The
acute intellect pierces to its aim; the subtile (or
subtle) intellect winds its way through obstacles. --
{Sub"tile*ly}, adv. -- {Sub"tile*ness}, n.
2. Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle
stratagem.
3. Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing
distinctions; nicely discriminating; -- said of persons;
as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous;
insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; -- said of
the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle
intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of
thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.
Things remote from use, obscure and subtle.
--Milton.
4. Smooth and deceptive. [Obs.]
Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground [bowling
ground]. --Shak.
Syn: Artful; crafty; cunning; shrewd; sly; wily.
Usage: Subtle is the most comprehensive of these epithets and
implies the finest intellectual quality. See {Shrewd},
and {Cunning}.