different between crafty vs subtile

English

Etymology

From Middle English crafti, crefti, from Old English cræfti? (“ingenious; skilful; crafty; cunning; virtuous; powerful”), from Proto-Germanic *kraftagaz, *kraftugaz (“powerful”), equivalent to craft +? -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kräftich, West Frisian krêftich, Dutch krachtig, German Low German krachtig, German kräftig.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?æfti/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k???fti/

Adjective

crafty (comparative craftier, superlative craftiest)

1. Relating to, or characterized by, craft or skill; dexterous.
2. Possessing dexterity; skilled; skillful.
3. Skillful at deceiving others; characterized by craft

   Synonyms: cunning, wily

   • For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[1]

     Together, with the help of the drunkard Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), the only District 12 citizen ever to win the Games, they challenge tributes that range from sadistic volunteers to crafty kids like the pint-sized Rue (Amandla Stenberg) to the truly helpless and soon-to-be-dead.

4. Sneaky; surreptitious.

   I took a crafty look at his hand of cards while he was out of the room.

Synonyms

• (skillful): See also Thesaurus:skilled
• (cunning, wily): See also Thesaurus:wily

Translations

English

Etymology

From Latin subtilis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”), perhaps, from sub (“under”) + tela (“a web, fabric”). See tela, toil.

Adjective

subtile (comparative subtiler, superlative subtilest)

1. (obsolete) subtle
   • 1819, Francis Bacon, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume 2, page 2:

     And sometimes this perception, in some kind of bodies, is far more subtile than the sense; so that the sense is but a dull thing in comparison of it: we see a weather-glass will find the least difference of the weather, in heat, or cold, when men find it not.

   • 1889, Henry James, The Solution.

     I burst into mirth at this—I liked him even better when he was subtile than when he was simple.

Derived terms

• subtile body

Further reading

• subtile in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• subtile in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Adjective

subtile

1. feminine singular of subtil

German

Adjective

subtile

1. inflection of subtil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Adjective

subt?le

1. nominative neuter singular of subt?lis
2. accusative neuter singular of subt?lis
3. vocative neuter singular of subt?lis

References

• subtile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

Middle English

Adjective

subtile

1. Alternative form of sotil

Noun

subtile

1. Alternative form of sotil

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

subtile

1. definite singular/plural of subtil

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

subtile

1. definite singular/plural of subtil

Swedish

Adjective

subtile

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of subtil.