subtly
/ˈsʌt.l̩.li/adverb
subtly is spelled S-U-B-T-L-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, subtly means “With subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in subtly?
| Letters | 6: S-U-B-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is subtly?
Subtly appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce subtly?
- UK /ˈsʌt.li/
- UK /ˈsʌ.tl̩.li/
- US /ˈsʌt.l̩.li/
Subtly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-subtly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of subtly
- more subtly comparative
- most subtly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does subtly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
With subtleness, in a subtle manner; with cleverness rather than brute force.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Subtly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense with subtleness, in a subtle manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | subtilement |
| Portuguese | sutilmente |
| Spanish | sutilmente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does subtly come from?
From Middle English sotilly; equivalent to subtle + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).