as in cunning
skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means
the subtleness with which the boutique owner convinces you that you have to have that outrageously priced article of clothing
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for subtleness
Noun
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Unable to outrun the Bitchfist, the Hand earns his reputation for cunning and courage.
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Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.
Noun
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But then again, this was a decade when subtlety seemed to have been banned at the city limits.
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Senegal home Sporting uniforms are not usually a canvas on which artists aim for subtlety.
Noun
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All of this shone vividly through his work, which shared his joy, artfulness and deep feeling, and most of all privileged human experience and social interaction.
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Mike Bowman, designer, furniture industry expert, and director of marketing for Harmonia Living, says this trend relies on furnishings to bring artfulness to a space—rather than just functionality.
Noun
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The harp is not an instrument of slyness, wryness, or the earth.
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Like the tricksters of myth, there’s depth to their slyness.
Cite this Entry
“Subtleness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtleness. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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