| subtilty | 1. The quality or state of being subtile; thinness; fineness; as, the subtility of air or light. 2. Refinement; extreme acuteness; subtlety. "Intelligible discourses are spoiled by too much subtility in nice divisions." (Locke) 3. Cunning; skill; craft. "To learn a lewd man this subtility." (Chaucer) 4. Slyness in design; artifice; guile; a cunning design or artifice; a trick; subtlety. "O full of all subtility and all mischief." (Acts xiii. 10) In senses 2, 3, and 4 the word is more commonly written subtlety. Origin: Contr. Fr. Subtility. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|