All 8 Uses of
subtle
in
1984 by Orwell
- That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed.
p. 35..5 (definition 1)subtlety = something that is indirect or non-obvious
- There was something subtly wrong with Syme. ... You could not say that he was unorthodox. ... Yet a faint air of disreputability always clung to him.
p. 55..0 (definition 2)subtly = non-obvious
- His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer.
p. 81..2 (definition 2) *subtle = requiring fine distinctions and relevant knowledge
- Or Katharine would die, and by subtle maneuverings Winston and Julia would succeed in getting married.
p. 151..9 (definition 1) *subtle = indirect or hidden
- It need hardly be said that the subtlest practitioners of doublethink are those who invented doublethink and know that it is a vast system of mental cheating.
p. 215..5 (definition 2)subtlest = with deepest understanding
- But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler.
p. 267..9 (definition 2)subtler = with finer distinctions
- This drama that I have played out with you during seven years will be played out over and over again generation after generation, always in subtler forms.
p. 268..6 (definition 2)
- But there were other days when they settled down to their work almost eagerly, making a tremendous show of entering up their minutes and drafting long memoranda which were never finished — when the argument as to what they were supposedly arguing about grew extraordinarily involved and abstruse, with subtle haggling over definitions, enormous digressions, quarrels threats, even, to appeal to higher authority.
p. 294..9 (definition 2)subtle = requiring fine distinctions
Definitions:
-
(1) (subtle as in: a subtle poison) working in an indirect or hidden way
-
(2) (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)