subtle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The contradiction sitting at the center of all this isn’t subtle.
From The Wall Street Journal β Aug. 28, 2026
Otherwise, it’s loud where the book was quiet and subtle where the book got sweaty.
From Los Angeles Times β Aug. 28, 2026
"It is so slow, it is so subtle, the behaviour development, that you do not see it creeping up and then you freeze."
From BBC β Aug. 24, 2026
Even Henry Kissinger was more subtle than that.
From Salon β Aug. 20, 2026
What if this were all a subtle trap?
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
It remains to be seen whether “Kitchen Undercover” will rely on prosthetics, fake mustaches or merely the subtler costume of the unrecognized employee.
From Salon β Jul. 5, 2026
It’s a subtler way to exert leverage over the world’s most important oil chokepoint, analysts at J.P.
From MarketWatch β May 19, 2026
What draws him most is subtler than that.
From BBC β Apr. 29, 2026
While not in any way rabble-rousing, they wage subtler revolutions.
From Los Angeles Times β Apr. 8, 2026
She stood up a little straighter, but she had no time to gather her courage, because outside the thoom came again, lower now and with subtler tremors, and then again and again in rhythmic repetition.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
By subconsciously mirroring even the subtlest twitches of expression and biological rhythms of other people, we can channel their thoughts and feelings.
From The Wall Street Journal β Jan. 22, 2026
The subtlest animation looks the best, especially when sunlight dapples upon fur or felines flex their claws to assert power.
From Los Angeles Times β Dec. 19, 2024
Through the warm friendship of Tara and Karan, the series also imparts one of its subtlest takes on relationships.
From BBC β Aug. 18, 2023
“Since you asked, it was the subtlest form of expression known to humans. The first novel was probably Murasaki Shikibu’s ‘Tale of Genji,’ written in the 11th century.
From New York Times β May 1, 2023
It’s people like Hoagland who call you up at odd hours of the night to tell you something you absolutely need to know, practicing on you the subtlest form of sleep deprivation.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Vocabulary lists containing subtle
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Latin Root "sub" Words
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The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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