Wry vs Subtle - What's the difference?
wry | subtle |
Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
* 1837 , , The Pickwick Papers , ch. 17:
* 1913 , , The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park , ch. 11:
Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
* 1871 , , The Haunted Baronet , ch. 6:
Twisted, bent, crooked.
Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
* 1820 , , The Abbot , ch. 34:
* 1876 , , The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor , vol. IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel,
(obsolete) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.
* 1535 , , Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation , ch. 18:
* , Cymbeline , act 5, sc. 1:
(obsolete) To divert; to cause to turn away.
To twist or contort (the body, face etc.).
(obsolete) To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.
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.
As adjectives the difference between wry and subtle
is that wry is turned away, contorted (of the face or body) while subtle is hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.As a verb wry
is (obsolete|intransitive) to turn (away); to swerve or deviate or wry can be (obsolete) to cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.wry
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) wrien, from (etyl) . Compare awry, wriggle.Adjective
(en-adj)- '"Why, you snivelling, wry -faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.
- “Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace.
- "[T]he master says a wry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head."
- Catherine hath made a wry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.
p. 155 (Google preview):
- . . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.
Derived terms
* wryly * awryVerb
- God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away.
- You married ones,
- If each of you should take this course, how many
- Must murder wives much better than themselves
- For wrying but a little!
Etymology 2
From (etyl) wryen, wrien, wreon, wrihen, from (etyl) .Verb
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.