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Elfin vs Nuance - What's the difference?

elfin | nuance |

As adjectives the difference between elfin and nuance

is that elfin is relating to or resembling an elf, especially in its tiny size or features while nuance is nuanced.

As a noun elfin

is an elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.

As a verb nuance is

.

elfin

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) elven, from (etyl) elfen, .

Noun

(en noun)
  • An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.
  • A little urchin or child.

    • Etymology 2

    Partly from attributive use of Etymology 1, but reanalysed by Spenser as if equivalent to .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Relating to or resembling an elf, especially in its tiny size or features.
  • *
  • *:Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, withon one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 24, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club
    • , title= Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , passage=He’s forced to travel back to 1969 to prevent an evil alien (a shockingly effective, nearly unrecognizable Jemaine Clement of Flight Of The Conchords, playing sort of a psychotic extraterrestrial-biker serial killer) from destroying the world by killing Brolin. Smith is aided in his quest by an elfin , time-jumping alien with psychic powers played by another Coen brothers veteran, A Serious Man star Michael Stuhlbarg. }}
    Synonyms
    * elvish

    nuance

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A minor distinction.
  • Subtlety or fine detail.
    • Understanding the basics is easy; appreciating the nuances takes years.
  • * 1901: Alpheus Spring Packard, Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution
    • ...the richer our collections become, the more numerous are the proofs that all is more or less shaded (nuance ), that the remarkable differences become obliterated...

    Derived terms

    * nuanced