What's the difference between silken and subtle?

Silken


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to silk; made of, or resembling, silk; as, silken cloth; a silken veil.
  • (a.) Fig.: Soft; delicate; tender; smooth; as, silken language.
  • (a.) Dressed in silk.
  • (v. t.) To render silken or silklike.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The alterations of haematological parameters in albino rats were studied after oral administration of an aqueous extract of silken styles of corn (Zea maize Linn.)
  • (2) And when Cameron goes home to sleep in Number 10, and President Xi tucks himself under the silken bedspread of the Belgian Suite, one can only hope that, for a moment at least, they might be painfully aware that just a mile or so away, in an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art, a replica of a Chinese political prisoner is lying in a mock-up prison cell for all the world to see.
  • (3) Ingham, whose gruffness camouflages an intellect of silken agility, was addressing the specific question of his boss’s public image, and asking, by implication, if the Iron Lady could – well – melt, just a little.
  • (4) From the luxuriant hair to the defiant pose to the silken red dress, there is nothing not regal about this photograph.
  • (5) From the first scene, following the flight of a rudimentary hot air balloon, we're whisked away by silken camera moves and stark compositions to a time and place where we're no less confused, amazed or terrified than Rublev himself.
  • (6) A silken thread was inserted in the extracorporeal shunt between the carotid artery and the jugular vein.
  • (7) Chunn, however, also senses the silken whisper of celebrity endorsement at work.
  • (8) "I am a Christian, I believe in the social market and I think we do tend to forget the difference between value and price, not just in the Conservative party but across the spectrum in this country," is his silken summary of where he stands.
  • (9) The results emphasize that the biochemical changes caused through aqueous extract of silken styles of corn (Zea maize Linn.)
  • (10) Essentials Vanessa stayed at the Hotel Silken Amara, double rooms from €119, and travelled with Brittany Ferries, which sails into Bilbao or Santander from Portsmouth or Plymouth.
  • (11) When compared with a soy-flour meal containing an equal amount of protein, iron absorption was found to be significantly improved with silken tofu, natto, tempeh, rice miso, barley miso, and soybean miso.
  • (12) "I was just beginning to feel cocky, when he turned on me with a silken question about how the Telegraph acquired the expenses files.
  • (13) David had escaped on a silken ladder from this world of bored luxury.
  • (14) Photograph: Alamy Caterpillars have orange brown backs with blueish-grey bands and build nests that form white silken clumps near the tops of pine trees.

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.