as in cunning
skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means
we appreciated the subtlety with which our host indicated that it was time to leave: he volunteered to pack us a little lunch for the road
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Examples of subtlety in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For all her subtlety, Manguso has always evinced a tendency to make broad, sometimes crude generalizations, to break the world into types.
—
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
It’s got a subtlety that takes a little while to seep in, but everyone is affected by it.
—Jennifer Billock, Travel + Leisure, 31 July 2024
Just as with its namesake show, don’t look for subtlety here, just delicious fun.
—Dave McIntyre, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
Real-time physiological data capture the subtleties of patient conditions that no human could detect.
—Julio La Torre, STAT, 18 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for subtlety 
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
It’s got a subtlety that takes a little while to seep in, but everyone is affected by it.
—Jennifer Billock, Travel + Leisure, 31 July 2024
Just as with its namesake show, don’t look for subtlety here, just delicious fun.
—Dave McIntyre, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
Real-time physiological data capture the subtleties of patient conditions that no human could detect.
—Julio La Torre, STAT, 18 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for subtlety
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'subtlety.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Subtlety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtlety. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
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