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Webster 1913 Edition

Subtle

Sub′tle

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Subtler
;
sup
erl.
Subtlest
.]
[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].
Shakespeare
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Subtle

SUB'TLE

,
Adj.
[See Subtil.] Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; applied to persons; as a subtle foe.
1.
Cunningly devised; as a subtle stratagem.

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