Word.ws English Dictionary

subtly

/ˈsʌt.li/US/ˈsʌt.l̩.li/

subtly adverb: with subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force.

Adverb

subtly (comparative more subtly, superlative most subtly)

  1. With subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force.
    • Nexte cometh Arrius by ſoo muche the more wretched and madde in opynyon, by howe muche he dothe more ſubtely and craftily geue unto Chriſt the body of a man, and taketh from hym the ſowle of a man, […]1533, Erasmus of Roterdame, “The Thyrde Instruction”, in William Marshall, transl., A Playne and Godly Exposytion or Declaration of the Commune Crede (which in the Latin Tonge is Called Symbolum...
    • For though Contraria iuxta ſe poſita magis illuceſcunt [opposites placed next to each other shine more brightly] (by an olde Rule) yet it hath beene ſubtilly, and indeede truely noted that our Sight, is not vvell contented, vvith thoſe ſudden departments, from one extreame to another; Therefore let...1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC, II. part, page 104

subtly meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu

subtly in Hindi

सूक्ष्मता से

subtly in Tamil

நுண்ணயத்துடன், நுண்ணயம், நயநுணுக்கம், நுழைநுட்பம், மயிரிழை நுணுக்கம், நுண்ணய வேறுபாடு

subtly in Marathi

सूक्ष्मपणे, सूक्ष्मतेने, सुक्ष्मपणे

subtly in Telugu

సూక్ష్మంగా
More languagesFewer languages
subtly in Kannada
ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮವಾಗಿ
subtly in Gujarati
સૂક્ષ્મતાથી
subtly in Nepali
सूक्ष्मतापूर्वक

Examples of subtly in a sentence

  • We were tempted with the carrot but subtly threatened with the stick.
  • During this scene, the boy’s face shifts subtly from soft focus into sharp focus.
  • The setting sunlight played through the gently waving branches, creating subtly nuanced transitions of color and tone.

All 29 example sentences with subtly

Forms of subtly

comparativemore subtly
superlativemost subtly
alternative form (obsolete)subtlely
alternative form (obsolete)subtilly

Origin of subtly

From Middle English sotilly; equivalent to subtle + -ly.

Questions about subtly

What does subtly mean?
Subtly means with subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force.
What is subtly in Hindi?
Subtly in Hindi is सूक्ष्मता से. See Subtly meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is subtly?
Subtly is an adverb.
How do you pronounce subtly?
Subtly is pronounced /ˈsʌt.li/ (UK).

Words near subtly in the dictionary

  1. subtleties
  2. subtlety
  3. subtling
  4. subtlist
  5. subtlists
  6. subtly
  7. subtoken
  8. subtokens
  9. subtomentose
  10. subtomogram
  11. subtomograms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: subtly (page history and authors); subtly (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subtly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subtly (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subtly (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subtly (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subtly (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); subtly (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-subtly.wav.

Cite this entry: “subtly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subtly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.