01 a. Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe.
-
1.
Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe.
-
2.
Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem.
-
3.
Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing distinctions; nicely discriminating; -- said of persons; as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous; insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; -- said of the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.“Things remote from use, obscure and subtle.” — Milton.
-
4.
Smooth and deceptive.[Obs.]“Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground [bowling ground].” — Shak.