All 7 Uses of
subtle
in
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
- He was pale, even tremulous; but, as before, she was appalled by the determination revealed in the depths of this gentle being she had married—the will to subdue the grosser to the subtler emotion, the substance to the conception, the flesh to the spirit.†
Chpt 5 *
- Beneath it was something educated, reserved, subtle, sad, differing.†
Chpt 3
- Cuthbert was, upon the whole, the more liberal-minded, though, with greater subtlety, he had not so much heart.†
Chpt 4 *
- This distinction, though by no means a subtle one, was yet too subtle for Mr Clare the elder, and he went on with the story he had been about to relate; which was that after the death of the senior so-called d'Urberville, the young man developed the most culpable passions, though he had a blind mother, whose condition should have made him know better.†
Chpt 4
- This distinction, though by no means a subtle one, was yet too subtle for Mr Clare the elder, and he went on with the story he had been about to relate; which was that after the death of the senior so-called d'Urberville, the young man developed the most culpable passions, though he had a blind mother, whose condition should have made him know better.†
Chpt 4
- The charms of their subtlety passed by her unappreciated, and she only received them as inimical sounds which meant that anger ruled.†
Chpt 5
- Their hearts went out of them at a bound towards extreme cases, when the subtle mental troubles of the less desperate among mankind failed to win their interest or regard.†
Chpt 5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(subtle as in: a subtle poison) working in an indirect or hidden way
-
(2)
(subtle as in: a subtle shade of blue) understated so as not to draw excess attention
-
(3)
(subtle as in: a subtle difference or thinker) not obvious, but noticeable with enough insight and knowledge
or:
able to notice or understand things that require insight and sensitivity