different between dexterous vs subtle
dexterous
English
Alternative forms
- dextrous (British)
Etymology
From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?d?kst??s/
- Rhymes: -?kst??s
Adjective
dexterous (comparative more dexterous, superlative most dexterous)
- Skillful with one's hands.
- Skillful in some specific thing.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing; and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
- (figuratively, archaic) Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful.
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
- […] the study [of law] renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defense […]
- 1775, speech by Edmund Burke
Related terms
- ambidextrous
- dexter
- dexterity
Translations
See also
- adroit
- active
- expert
- skillful
- clever
- able
- ready
- apt
- handy
- versed
Further reading
- dexterous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- dexterous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- dexterous at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Exoduster
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subtle
English
Alternative forms
- subtil, subtile, suttle (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English sotil, soubtil, subtil, borrowed from Old French soutil, subtil, from Latin subt?lis (“fine, thin, slender, delicate”); probably, originally, “woven fine”, and from sub (“under”) + tela (“a web”), from texere (“to weave”). Displaced native Old English sm?ag.
Pronunciation
- enPR: s?t'(?)l, IPA(key): /?s?t(?)l/, [?s????]
- Rhymes: -?t?l
Adjective
subtle (comparative subtler or more subtle, superlative subtlest or most subtle)
- Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.
- Antonym: simple
- 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 ?trong, tho' ?ubtile Force, thro' all the Parts: / Its active Rays ejaculated thence, / Irradiate all the wide Circumference.
- (of a thing) Cleverly contrived.
- (of a person or animal) Cunning, skillful.
- Synonyms: crafty, cunning, skillful
- Insidious.
- Synonyms: deceptive, malicious
- 1623, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third, Act IV, scene 4:
- Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous.
- Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
- (obsolete) Refined; exquisite.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- subtle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- subtle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “subtle”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN
Anagrams
- bluest, bluets, bustle, butles, sublet
subtle From the web:
- what subtle means
- whats subtle
- what does subtle
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