Subtly

//ˈsʌt.l̩.li// adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 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, […]"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a subtle manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
unobtrusivelyunobtrusively

Example

More examples

"The president tried to make his case for war by subtly appealing to the electorate's deep-seated suspicion of Arabs."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

brute force

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.