subtil
French, adjective/syp.til/
subtil is spelled S-U-B-T-I-L (6 letters) and appears 4.6 times per million words in written French, the 11,928th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Subtil is a French adjective meaning “subtle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui est délié, fin, menu”.
What does subtil mean in English?
adjective
- 1
subtle
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est délié, fin, menu. 2. Qualifie les choses qui sont de nature à pénétrer, à s’insinuer promptement. 3. Qui perçoit finement, avec acuité, qui distingue les choses les plus fines à saisir. 4. Qui manifeste de la finesse, de l’ingéniosité, de la pénétration.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of subtil
- subtile feminine
- subtils masculine plural
- subtiles feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce subtil?
- /syp.til/
- \syp.til\
- [syp.t̪il̪]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to subtil
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is subtil in French?
subtil appears 4.6 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).