Cunning
Cunning noun - Skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means.
Usage example: the cunning with which Tom Sawyer was able to get others to whitewash the fence for him
Subtlety is a synonym for cunning in skill topic. In some cases you can use "Subtlety" instead a noun "Cunning", when it comes to topics like subterfuge, deceit, craftiness.
Nearby Word: cunningly
Subtlety
Subtlety noun - Skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means.
Usage example: we appreciated the subtlety with which our host indicated that it was time to leave: he volunteered to pack us a little lunch for the road
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Synonyms for Subtlety
Cunning is a synonym for subtlety in subterfuge topic. You can use "Cunning" instead a noun "Subtlety", if it concerns topics such as ingenuity, deceit, craftiness.
Nearby Words: subtle, subtleness
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
How words are described
| usual | usual cunning | usual subtlety |
| fake | fake cunning | fake subtlety |
| considerable | considerable cunning | considerable subtlety |
| extreme | extreme cunning | extreme subtlety |
| Other adjectives: necessary, incredible, general, political, least, surprising. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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In Paranoia, the elite Vulture Warriors of Armed Forces easily outshine even the better Troubleshooters when it comes to direct combat, albeit at the expense of things like subtlety and cunning.
Source: Badass Army -
In Eddings' stand-alone novel, The Redemption of Althalus Pekhal and Gelta are the ones that Ghend calls in when he and Daeva have a situation that requires straight up brute force, as opposed to cunning or subtlety (which Evil Genius Argan and Dark Chick Koman deal with).
Source: The Brute -
Stupid Evil: Mede ambassadors, for all their cunning and subtlety, just can't seem to get the idea of a clever woman through their brains.
Source: Literature / The Queen's Thief
Cite this Source
Subtlety and Cunning. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cunning/subtlety
Cunning & Subtlety. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cunning/subtlety>.
Subtlety or Cunning. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cunning/subtlety.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cunning" and "subtlety" have occurred on timeline