subtle

Meaning

Adjective

• Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.
• Cleverly contrived.
• Cunning, skillful.
• Insidious.
• Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
• Refined; exquisite.

Origin

• From Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil, borrowed from Old French soutil, subtil, from Latin subtīlis ("fine, thin, slender, delicate"); probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub + tēla, from texere. Displaced native .