unsubtleadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈsʌtl/, U.S. /ˌənˈsəd(ə)l/ (un- prefix1 1.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adjective] > artless, guileless, or innocent
simple?c1225
innocenta1382
simple-hearted?c1425
unsubtlea1500
indolec1550
naïfc1598
sacklessa1600
plain-hearted1601
unnooked1602
unguileful1604
onefold1606
naivea1614
innocentious1624
innocential1628
excuseless1640
uncrafty1647
craftless1650
ingenuousa1662
innocentive1661
unartful1703
artless1714
ingénue1848
blue-eyed1903
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective] > of mind, thought, etc.
feeble1393
weak1423
unsubtlea1500
shallowc1595
uncapacious1635
unprofound1677
shoal1728
rickety1738
sicklya1771
inexcursive1837
no-brow1922
a1500 Ratis Raving i. 877 For sen [? read few] vnsubtill that are fals Eschapis vnhyngyt be the hals.
1942 A. L. Rowse Cornish Childhood ii. 29 My father..was a man of simple texture, upright, hard-working..but he was uneducated, unintrospective, unsubtle.
1978 R. Nixon Mem. 526 The Soviets moved troops to the Chinese border in an unsubtle attempt to tie up Chinese forces and prevent them from going to the aid of Pakistan.
Derivatives
unˈsubtly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > unaffectedness or naturalness > [adverb] > artlessly, guilessly, or innocently
innocentlyc1400
ingenuously1611
plain-heartedly1675
artlessly1713
naively1716
naïfly1859
unsubtly1934
1934 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1959 Times 24 Oct. 9/1 French vowels fall unsubtly from her lips.
1976 Daily Tel. 8 July 16 Anyone who goes around announcing, or unsubtly implying, that he is so terribly tough, aggressive and exciting is unlikely to be any of those things.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.a1500