What's the difference between contrived and subtle?

Contrived


Definition:

  • (imp. & p. p.) of Contrive

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "If there is some kind of contrived scheme or vehicle, ie it's obvious that the purpose of the scheme is to avoid paying VAT and it's taking advantage of a loophole and we consider that tax is actually owed on the scheme, rather than just being a case of sensible tax planning … we can make the judgment that this is not legitimate tax planning.
  • (2) Here they led within 90 seconds against a team whose fragility has been all too clear this term, and still contrived to wilt almost apologetically.
  • (3) And I'll be catching several buzzy acts who I contrived to miss last year – Ivo Graham, Ursula Burns, Trygve (Squidboy) Wakenshaw, Phil Wang, Paul Currie.
  • (4) Rafael Benítez must contrive a way of picking this team up, as well as a starting lineup who are relatively fresh for Elland Road and a cup tie that once would have stirred the senses.
  • (5) When Grayson remarks to the men he meets that his transvestism allows him enough distance from maleness to view it as an observer, rather than bristle they nod, quietly ponder for a moment and then step back themselves, apparently accepting that maleness is such a weird contrivance that to look at it with critical eyes is Not Even A Thing.
  • (6) Capello's men have contrived to fail more severely than the line‑up beaten 4-2 by Uruguay in 1954.
  • (7) Support is provided by intercostal angiography, and by observations upon normal anatomy, the pathological anatomy of mature scoliotic spines and the anatomy of contrived scoliosis in normal spines.
  • (8) The natural and the contrived social experiments are reviewed as well as the issue of needed research on the effects of regulation on science and on the protection of privacy.
  • (9) Even after the Daily Mail's Jack Tinker (obituary, October 29 1996) contrived for Shulman's career as a theatre critic to be brought to an end in 1991, he continued to write a column for the Evening Standard on art affairs - until he was 83.
  • (10) Some patients find that the risk of a spontaneous attack is lessened following a self-induced seizure and can therefore contrive their fits to occur only in situations which are safe and convenient.
  • (11) Some contrivances in anastomosing a conduit were also proposed to achieve an excellent result.
  • (12) "It's more contrived in terms of 'good girl gone bad' or 'I'm so edgy – I'm twerking in this context.'
  • (13) Always a contrived fiction, this sequence juxtaposes a poignant fantasy of a fully fit presenter with the merciless world of hard news.
  • (14) A coded panel of 100 contrived dried blood spots prepared form well characterised anti-HIV-1 and anti-HIV-2 positive sera and an anti-HIV negative serum was distributed to eight testing centres.
  • (15) Despite papal fiction being such a crowded church, Harris, in Conclave , contrives a twist involving the number of cardinal-electors that seems to me completely new, showing that the genre still has possibilities.
  • (16) Although oral administration volume is limited in small animal model, enhancing its antitumor effect may be possible in clinical application by contriving the method of administration.
  • (17) Events went from bad to ridiculous for the Redbirds in the second inning, when Stephen Drew popped the ball up into the infield and catcher Yadier Molina and pitcher Adam Wainwright both moved towards the ball and then contrived to call each other off and watched the ball drop harmlessly between them.
  • (18) "We will dedicate our seventh goal to our wives, and the eighth to our dogs," quipped one player, while the manager, Jupp Derwall, promised that if his team contrived to lose he would "jump on the first train back to Munich".
  • (19) The tasks were presented in various ways: by means of a table-top simulation on which traffic scenarios had been contrived; by means of photographs of road situations; and by taking the children to real-world sites in the streets near their schools.
  • (20) The amendment left the government facing the prospect of scuttling its own legislation to give the tax office greater powers to stop global companies using “artificial or contrived arrangements” to avoid tax obligations.

Subtle


Definition:

  • (superl.) Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; -- applied to persons; as, a subtle foe.
  • (superl.) Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem.
  • (superl.) Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing distinctions; nicely discriminating; -- said of persons; as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous; insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; -- said of the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.
  • (superl.) Smooth and deceptive.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As a group, the three mammalian proteins resemble bovine serum conglutinin and behave as lectins with rather broad sugar specificities directed at certain non-reducing terminal N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, glucose and fucose residues, but with subtle differences in fine specificities.
  • (2) But it will be a subtle difference, because it's already abundantly clear there's no danger of the war being suddenly forgotten, or made to seem irrelevant to our sense of what Europe and the world has to avoid repeating.
  • (3) Communicating sustainability is a subtle attempt at doing good Read more And yet, in environmental terms it is infinitely preferable to prevent waste altogether, rather than recycle it.
  • (4) If, indeed, there is an immunologic basis for pre-eclampsia, it is more subtle than the methodology used in this study is capable of detecting.
  • (5) Subtle differences between Chicago urban and Grand Forks rural climates are reflected in arthritic subjects' degree of pain and their perception of pain-related stress.
  • (6) Critical in this understanding are the subtle changes that occur in the individual patient, reflecting the natural history of the disease or response to its treatment.
  • (7) Subtle cognitive deficits in Inferential Reading Comprehension were detected when Reading Vocabulary was at or better than a twelfth grade level.
  • (8) This histochemical difference corresponded to more subtle differences in Nissl and myelin staining patterns, and suggests further structural subdivisions of potential functional significance.
  • (9) Thus, luciferase transcriptional fusions can detect subtle variations in initial rates of gene expression in a real-time, nondestructive assay.
  • (10) The binding of [3H]PAF to washed human platelets indicated subtle changes between Days 2 and 4, which became more noticeable by Day 6.
  • (11) In this study the temperature dependence of the reactivity of aldolase SH groups is investigated in order to detect subtle changes in the enzyme conformation.
  • (12) The crucial issue of whether subtle behavioral, intellectual, and developmental impairment occurs in young children, as a result of lead-induced CNS damage is discussed in detail.
  • (13) Historically, what made SNL’s campaign coverage so necessary was its ability to highlight the subtle absurdities of the election and exaggerate the ridiculous.
  • (14) It is believed that by looking at such subtle shape differences an understanding of what it means morphologically for a primate to be either more or less arboreal may be achieved.
  • (15) The current magnetic resonance imaging system with computerized image processing is a sensitive and simple method for evaluation of subtle parenchymal changes of the brain.
  • (16) Fundus examination disclosed a subtle cherry red spot bilaterally.
  • (17) Ependymal cells developed luminal fronds that projected into the ventricle and the subpial glia displayed a very subtle gliosis in the form of thin multi-laminated processes.
  • (18) The rapidity of obtaining the results (within one hour), the complete absence of untoward reactions to the radiopharmaceuticals, the much lower frequency of subtle or indeterminate results, the ability to render useful information in the presence of moderate jaundice and the lack of interference from overlying intestinal contents establishes these radionuclide agents as superior to both radiographic oral and intravenous cholangiography in the investigation of the acute abdomen.
  • (19) Moreover, subtle improvements observed in earlier investigations were not confirmed.
  • (20) Various compounds show subtle but significant differences in blood clearance, excretion, and soft-tissue uptake.