SUBTILER

Adjective

subtiler

comparative form of subtile

Anagrams

• bluiters, burliest

Source: Wiktionary


SUBTILE

Sub"tile, a. Etym: [L. subtilis. See Subtile.]

1. Thin; not dense or gross; rare; as, subtile air; subtile vapor; a subtile medium.

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.]

Syn.

– Subtile, Acute. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

18 April 2025

GROIN

(noun) the crease at the junction of the inner part of the thigh with the trunk together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

coffee icon