sub·tle·ty

[suht-l-tee]
noun, plural sub·tle·ties.
1.
the state or quality of being subtle.
2.
delicacy or nicety of character or meaning.
3.
acuteness or penetration of mind; delicacy of discrimination.
4.
a fine-drawn distinction; refinement of reasoning: the subtleties of logic.
5.
something subtle.
6.
History/Historical. an elaborate confection, ornate in construction and ornamentation, sometimes edible but more often made and used as a decoration for a table or buffet.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English subtelte, sutilte < Old French sutilte < Latin subtīlitāt- (stem of subtīlitās) fineness, equivalent to subtīli(s) subtile + -tāt- -ty2

hy·per·sub·tle·ty, noun
non·sub·tle·ty, noun, plural non·sub·tle·ties.
o·ver·sub·tle·ty, noun, plural o·ver·sub·tle·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To subtlety
00:10
Subtlety is a GRE word you need to know.
So is guile. Does it mean:
insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.
a regional form of a language, esp. of French, differing from the standard, literary form of the language.
Collins
World English Dictionary
subtlety (ˈsʌtəltɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ties
1.  the state or quality of being subtle; delicacy
2.  a fine distinction or the ability to make such a distinction
3.  something subtle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Example sentences
The investigators blinked at the subtlety of this distinction, and made the
  necessary changes to the transcript.
These changes are all the more startling for their subtlety, adding a new
  dimension to the audio commentaries.
That's one, twenty-three in case the subtlety didn't take.
For the subtlety and quickness of his understanding, and his penetrating
  genius, he was regarded as a prodigy.
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