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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subtleness
Noun
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Federico Marchetti, the Italian fashion entrepreneur, is a master of sprezzatura—the courtier’s art of cloaking ambition and cunning in an air of guileless nonchalance.—
John Seabrook,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025 -
But Israeli cunning, buoyed by remarkable intelligence capabilities and precision targeting, has damaged the group.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Restraint and subtlety have become her trademarks.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Oct. 2025
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As my colleague Lila Shapiro found in her reporting over the summer, peace has long been made with the trade-off of cheaper, faster output at the cost of subtlety and craft.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.—
Tim Greiving,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Ay, the superb slyness of that last response!—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Subtleness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtleness. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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