subtil

English

Alternative forms

• subtill

Adjective

subtil (comparative more subtil, superlative most subtil)

1. Obsolete form of subtle; sly, artful, cunning
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:1:

     Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the field, which the LORD God had made, and he said vnto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of euery tree of the garden?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Wisdom of Solomon 7:22–23:

     For wisedome which is the worker of all things, taught mee: for in her is an vnderstanding spirit holy, one onely, manifold, subtile, liuely, cleare, vndefiled, plaine, not subiect to hurt, louing the thing that is good, quicke, which cānot be letted, ready to do good: Kinde to man, stedfast, sure, free from care, hauing all power, ouerseeing all things, and going through all vnderstanding, pure, and most subtile spirits.

References

• Noah Webster (1828) “subtil”, in An American Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (J–Z), New York, N.Y.: […] S. Converse; printed by Hezekiah Howe […], →OCLC.

Anagrams

• builts, bultis

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin subtīlis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [supˈtil]

Adjective

subtil m or f (masculine and feminine plural subtils)

1. subtle

Derived terms

• subtilesa
• subtilment

Further reading

• “subtil” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “subtil”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “subtil” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Danish

Etymology

From Latin subtīlis (“fine, thin”), from sub + tēla (“a web”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /subtiːl/, [sub̥ˈtˢiːˀl]

Adjective

subtil

1. subtle

Inflection

Inflection of subtil

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	subtil	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	subtilt	—	—2
plural	subtile	—	—2
definite attributive1	subtile	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “subtil” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Middle French subtil, from Old French subtil (13th c.), byform of sotil (12th c.), itself inherited from Latin subtīlis. Old French subtil may still represent the inherited form if it stands for the pronunciation /su.til/. The modern /y/ is of semi-learned origin. The b probably came to be pronounced even later; Middle French variant spellings like sutil, suttil suggest that it was still mostly silent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syp.til/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

subtil (feminine subtile, masculine plural subtils, feminine plural subtiles)

1. subtle

Further reading

• “subtil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German subtīl (13th c.), from Latin subtīlis. It was fairly well integrated in Middle High German. Accordingly a diphthongised form subteil is attested (albeit rarely) and the word is also current in some dialects. Since the 18th century it has become less frequent and more restricted to learned parlance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zʊpˈtiːl/

• Audio (Berlin):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

Adjective

subtil (strong nominative masculine singular subtiler, comparative subtiler, superlative am subtilsten)

1. subtle

   Synonyms: fein, feinfühlig, feinsinnig, unterschwellig

Declension

Positive forms of subtil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist subtil	sie ist subtil	es ist subtil	sie sind subtil
strong declension (without article)	nominative	subtiler	subtile	subtiles	subtile
	genitive	subtilen	subtiler	subtilen	subtiler
	dative	subtilem	subtiler	subtilem	subtilen
	accusative	subtilen	subtile	subtiles	subtile
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der subtile	die subtile	das subtile	die subtilen
	genitive	des subtilen	der subtilen	des subtilen	der subtilen
	dative	dem subtilen	der subtilen	dem subtilen	den subtilen
	accusative	den subtilen	die subtile	das subtile	die subtilen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein subtiler	eine subtile	ein subtiles	(keine) subtilen
	genitive	eines subtilen	einer subtilen	eines subtilen	(keiner) subtilen
	dative	einem subtilen	einer subtilen	einem subtilen	(keinen) subtilen
	accusative	einen subtilen	eine subtile	ein subtiles	(keine) subtilen

Comparative forms of subtil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist subtiler	sie ist subtiler	es ist subtiler	sie sind subtiler
strong declension (without article)	nominative	subtilerer	subtilere	subtileres	subtilere
	genitive	subtileren	subtilerer	subtileren	subtilerer
	dative	subtilerem	subtilerer	subtilerem	subtileren
	accusative	subtileren	subtilere	subtileres	subtilere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der subtilere	die subtilere	das subtilere	die subtileren
	genitive	des subtileren	der subtileren	des subtileren	der subtileren
	dative	dem subtileren	der subtileren	dem subtileren	den subtileren
	accusative	den subtileren	die subtilere	das subtilere	die subtileren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein subtilerer	eine subtilere	ein subtileres	(keine) subtileren
	genitive	eines subtileren	einer subtileren	eines subtileren	(keiner) subtileren
	dative	einem subtileren	einer subtileren	einem subtileren	(keinen) subtileren
	accusative	einen subtileren	eine subtilere	ein subtileres	(keine) subtileren

Superlative forms of subtil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am subtilsten	sie ist am subtilsten	es ist am subtilsten	sie sind am subtilsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	subtilster	subtilste	subtilstes	subtilste
	genitive	subtilsten	subtilster	subtilsten	subtilster
	dative	subtilstem	subtilster	subtilstem	subtilsten
	accusative	subtilsten	subtilste	subtilstes	subtilste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der subtilste	die subtilste	das subtilste	die subtilsten
	genitive	des subtilsten	der subtilsten	des subtilsten	der subtilsten
	dative	dem subtilsten	der subtilsten	dem subtilsten	den subtilsten
	accusative	den subtilsten	die subtilste	das subtilste	die subtilsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein subtilster	eine subtilste	ein subtilstes	(keine) subtilsten
	genitive	eines subtilsten	einer subtilsten	eines subtilsten	(keiner) subtilsten
	dative	einem subtilsten	einer subtilsten	einem subtilsten	(keinen) subtilsten
	accusative	einen subtilsten	eine subtilste	ein subtilstes	(keine) subtilsten

Related terms

• Subtilität

Further reading

• “subtil” in Duden online
• “subtil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Middle English

Adjective

subtil

1. Alternative form of sotil

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin subtilis.

Adjective

subtil (masculine and feminine subtil, neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)

1. subtle

References

• “subtil” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “subtil” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin subtilis.

Adjective

subtil (neuter subtilt, definite singular and plural subtile)

1. subtle

References

• “subtil” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /subˈt͡ʃiw/ [subˈt͡ʃiʊ̯], /su.biˈt͡ʃiw/ [su.biˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /subˈt͡ʃiw/ [subˈt͡ʃiʊ̯], /su.biˈt͡ʃiw/ [su.biˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /subˈt͡ʃiw/ [subˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈbtil/ [suˈβtiɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈbtil/ [suˈβtiɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈbti.li/ [suˈβti.li]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -il, (Brazil) -iw
• Hyphenation: sub‧til

Adjective

subtil m or f (plural subtis)

1. European Portuguese standard spelling of sutil.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French subtil and Latin subtīlis. Doublet of subțire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /subˈtil/

Adjective

subtil m or n (feminine singular subtilă, masculine plural subtili, feminine and neuter plural subtile)

1. subtle

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	subtil		subtilă		subtili	subtile
	definite	subtilul		subtila		subtilii	subtilele
genitive- dative	indefinite	subtil		subtile		subtili	subtile
	definite	subtilului		subtilei		subtilelor	subtililor

Related terms

• subtilitate
• subtiliza
• subtilizare
• subtilizat

Swedish

Adjective

subtil (comparative subtilare, superlative subtilast)

1. subtle

Declension

Inflection of subtil

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	subtil	subtilare	subtilast
neuter singular	subtilt	subtilare	subtilast
plural	subtila	subtilare	subtilast
masculine plural2	subtile	subtilare	subtilast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	subtile	subtilare	subtilaste
all	subtila	subtilare	subtilaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• subtilitet (“subtlety”)

References

• subtil in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• subtil in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• subtil in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)