subtleとは意味・読み方・使い方

語源

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 (“under”) + tēla (“a web”), from texere (“to weave”). Displaced native 古期英語 smēag (字義どおりに “creeping”).

発音

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌt(ə)l/, [ˈsʌɾɫ̩], enPR: sŭt'(ə)l
• 韻: -ʌtəl

形容詞

subtle (comparative subtler または more subtle, superlative subtlest または most subtle)

1. Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood.

   Antonym: simple

2. Barely noticeable, not obvious, indistinct.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:indistinct

   Antonyms: distinct; see also Thesaurus:distinct

   The difference is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.

   • 1712, Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God. In Seven Books, book I, London: Printed for S. Buckley, at the Dolphin in Little-Britain; and J[acob] Tonson, at Shakespear's Head over-against Catherine-Street in the Strand, OCLC 731619916; 5th edition, Dublin: Printed by S. Powell, for G. Risk, G. Ewing, and W. Smith, in Dame's-street, 1727, OCLC 728300884, page 7:

     The mighty Magnet from the Center darts / This ſtrong, tho' ſubtile Force, thro' all the Parts: / Its active Rays ejaculated thence, / Irradiate all the wide Circumference.

3. (of a thing) Cleverly contrived.
4. (of a person または animal) Cunning, skillful.

   Synonyms: crafty, cunning, skillful

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 3:1:

     Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made, and he said vnto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of euery tree of the garden?

5. Insidious.

   Synonyms: deceptive, malicious

   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i], page 173:

     And if King Edward be as true and iuſt, / As I am Subtle, Falſe, and Treacherous,

6. Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
7. (obsolete) Refined; exquisite.

派生語