Subtle vs Catty - What's the difference?
subtle | catty |
Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.
(of a thing) Cleverly contrived.
(of a person or animal) Cunning, skillful.
insidious
* 1623 , , act iv, scene 4,
Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.
(informal, of a person or remark) With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy or upset, particularly among women.
(informal) Resembling or characteristic of a cat.
A (unit of) weight used in China, generally standardized as half a kilogram.
* 2009 , Huaiyin Li, Village China Under Socialism and Reform: A Micro-History, 1948-2008 , Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-0-8047-5974-8,
* 1699 , Captain William Dampier, A new voyage round the world, Volume 1 :
* 1847 , Robert Montgomery Martin, China; Political, Commercial, and Social , Volume 2, James Madden (publisher),
As adjectives the difference between subtle and catty
is that subtle is hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable while catty is with subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women.As a noun catty is
a (unit of) weight used in China, generally standardized as half a kilogram.subtle
English
Alternative forms
* subtil (obsolete) * subtile (obsolete)Adjective
(er)- The difference is subtle , but you can hear it if you listen carefully.
- Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle , bloody, treacherous.
Synonyms
* crafty, cunning, skillful * (insidious) insidiousAntonyms
* (hard to grasp) simpleDerived terms
* subtle body * subtleness * subtlety * subtlyReferences
* * *Anagrams
* * * *catty
English
Alternative forms
* cattieEtymology 1
; in sense “hostility”, see (m).Adjective
(er)- a catty smell
Synonyms
* (spiteful) bitchy (derogatory), cattish, malicious, nasty, snide, spitefulSee also
*Etymology 2
From (etyl) kati, from (etyl) languages, Mandarin:Noun
(head)page 94:
- To limit team members' consumption, it issued food stamps to the villagers and allowed everyone to eat one catty of rice a day.
- 16 Mess'', make a ''Tale'', which here is 20 ''s''. ''English'', 5 ''Tale'' make a ''Bancal'', a weight so called, and 20 ''Bancal'' make a ''Catty , another weight.
page 124:
- Transparent yellow pieces are the best; the price is from eight to fourteen dollars per catty , according to size and quality.