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