SUBTLY

subtly

(adverb) in a subtle manner; “late nineteenth-century French opera at its most beautiful, subtly romantic with a twilight melancholy”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adverb

subtly (comparative more subtly, superlative most subtly)

With subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force.

Anagrams

• bustly, butyls

Source: Wiktionary

Sub"tly, adv.

Definition: In a subtle manner; slyly; artfully; cunningly. Thou seest how subtly to detain thee I devise. Milton.

2. Nicely; delicately. In the nice bee what sense so subtly true. Pope. Subtly communicating itself to my sensibilities, but evading the analysis of my mind. Hawthorne.

3. Deceitfully; delusively. [Obs.] Shak.

SUBTLE

Sub"tle, a. [Compar. Subtler; superl. Subtlest.] Etym: [OE. sotil, subtil, OF. soutil, later subtil, F. subtil, L. subtilis; probably, originally, woven fine, and fr. sub under + tela a web, fr. texere to weave. See Text, and cf. Subtile.]

1. Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe. "A subtle traitor." Shak.

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. Subtle is the most comprehensive of these epithets and implies the finest intellectual quality. See Shrewd, and Cunning.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition