subtle

1 clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means used subtle methods of persuasion Synonyms of subtle beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, artful, tricky, wilyWords Related to subtle astute, facile, glib, sharp; crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous; backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced; circuitous, circular, roundabout; clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover; calculating, plottingNear Antonyms of subtle obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed; aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished; childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly; unforced, unstudied; trustful, trustingAntonyms of subtle artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

2 made or done with extreme care and accuracy the subtle strokes of the painter's brush Synonyms of subtle delicate, exact, finespun, hairline, hairsplitting, minute, nice, nuanced, refined, fineWords Related to subtle nitpicking, quibbling; frivolous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, negligible, petty, piddling, trifling, trivial; demanding, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finicky, fussy, meticulous, particular, pickyNear Antonyms of subtle apparent, clear, clear-cut, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable; broad, indefinite; careless, heedless, incautious, slapdash, slipshod, sloppyAntonyms of subtle coarse, inexact, rough

3 satisfying or pleasing because of fineness or mildness a subtle suggestion of the Near East in the soup's flavoring Synonyms of subtle airy, dainty, exquisite, nuanced, refined, delicateWords Related to subtle choice, elegant, extraordinary, incomparable, peerless, preeminent, prime, rare, select, superior, superlative, supreme, transcendent, unsurpassed; picked, selected; fine, fragile, frailNear Antonyms of subtle coarse, crude, rough; common, ordinary; average, fair, indifferent, mediocre, medium, middling, run-of-the-mill, second-rateAntonyms of subtle robust, strong, sturdy