All 7 Uses of
subtle
in
The Scarlet Letter
- ...after living for three years within the subtle influence of an intellect like Emerson's;
Chpt Intr. (definition 1) *subtle = intelligent
- Certainly there was some deep meaning in it most worthy of interpretation, and which, as it were, streamed forth from the mystic symbol, subtly communicating itself to my sensibilities, but evading the analysis of my mind.
Chpt Intr. (definition 2)subtly = indirectly in a way that is hard to see
- Dames of elevated rank, likewise, whose doors she entered in the way of her occupation, were accustomed to distil drops of bitterness into her heart; sometimes through that alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles; and sometimes, also, by a coarser expression, that fell upon the sufferer's defenceless breast like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound.
Chpt 5 (definition 2)subtle = working in an indirect or hidden way
- In their researches into the human frame, it may be that the higher and more subtle faculties of such men were materialised, and that they lost the spiritual view of existence amid the intricacies of that wondrous mechanism, which seemed to involve art enough to comprise all of life within itself.
Chpt 9 (definition 1)subtle = requiring fine distinctions
- All this was accomplished with a subtlety so perfect, that the minister, though he had constantly a dim perception of some evil influence watching over him, could never gain a knowledge of its actual nature.
Chpt 11 (definition 2) *subtlety = working in an indirect or hidden way
- The minister well knew—subtle, but remorseful hypocrite that he was!—the light in which his vague
confession would be viewed.
Chpt 11 (definition 2)
- We have had, and may still have, worse things to tell of him; but none, we apprehend, so pitiably weak; no evidence, at once so slight and irrefragable, of a subtle disease that had long since begun to eat into the real substance of his character.
Chpt 20 (definition 2)
Definitions:
-
(1) (subtle as in: a subtle difference or thinker) not obvious, but understandable by someone with adequate sensitivity and relevant knowledge (perhaps depending upon fine distinctions)
or:
capable of understanding things that require sensitivity and relevant knowledge (perhaps understanding fine distinctions)
-
(2) (subtle as in: a subtle poison) working in an indirect or hidden way