What's the difference between slight and subtle?

Slight


Definition:

  • (n.) Sleight.
  • (v. t.) To overthrow; to demolish.
  • (v. t.) To make even or level.
  • (v. t.) To throw heedlessly.
  • (superl.) Not decidedly marked; not forcible; inconsiderable; unimportant; insignificant; not severe; weak; gentle; -- applied in a great variety of circumstances; as, a slight (i. e., feeble) effort; a slight (i. e., perishable) structure; a slight (i. e., not deep) impression; a slight (i. e., not convincing) argument; a slight (i. e., not thorough) examination; slight (i. e., not severe) pain, and the like.
  • (superl.) Not stout or heavy; slender.
  • (superl.) Foolish; silly; weak in intellect.
  • (v. t.) To disregard, as of little value and unworthy of notice; to make light of; as, to slight the divine commands.
  • (n.) The act of slighting; the manifestation of a moderate degree of contempt, as by neglect or oversight; neglect; indignity.
  • (adv.) Slightly.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A slight varus angle of 2.1 degrees became apparent.
  • (2) At the moment we are, if anything, slightly lagging."
  • (3) In schizophrenic patients the density of dopamine uptake sites in the basal ganglia was slightly reduced, mainly in the middle third of putamen.
  • (4) In the presence of insulin, a qualitatively similar pattern of increasing responses to albumin is observed; the enhancement of each response by insulin is, however, only slightly potentiated by higher albumin concentrations.
  • (5) Type 1 changes (decreased signal intensity on T1-weighted spin-echo images and increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images) were identified in 20 patients (4%) and type 2 (increased signal intensity on T1-weighted images and isointense or slightly increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images) in 77 patients (16%).
  • (6) At the highest dose of chloroquine tested (500 microM), a slightly greater increase in insulin binding and a decrease in insulin degradation were observed in fetal cells as compared with adult cells.
  • (7) Epidermal growth factor reduced plating efficiency by about 50% for A431 cells in different cell cycle phases whereas a slight increase in plating efficiency was seen for SiHa cells.
  • (8) )-induced gnawing behavior in rats was slightly more potent than that of clocapramine.
  • (9) Regression curves indicate that although all three types of pulmonary edema can be characterized by slightly different slopes, the differences are statistically insignificant.
  • (10) TR was classified as follows: severe (massive systolic opacification and persistence of the microbubbles in the IVC for at least 20 seconds); moderate (moderate systolic opacification lasting less than 20 seconds); mild (slight systolic opacification lasting less than 10 seconds); insignificant TR (sporadic appearance of the contrast medium into the IVC).
  • (11) When the Tunnel closed, Hardee decamped in 1991 to Up The Creek - a slightly better behaved venue in nearby Greenwich, which Hardee described as "the Tunnel with A-levels".
  • (12) Gross brain atrophy was slight and equal in both groups.
  • (13) Men who ever farmed were at slightly elevated risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (odds ratio = 1.2, 95% confidence interval = 1.0-1.5) that was not linked to specific crops or particular animals.
  • (14) The binding to DNA-cellulose of heat-activated [3H]RU486-receptor complexes was slightly decreased (37%) when compared with that of the agonist [3H]R5020-receptor complexes (47%).
  • (15) The scleral arc length is slightly longer than the chord length (caliper setting).
  • (16) Hyperosmolar buffer slightly increased the sensitivity and maximal response to methacholine as well as the cholinergic twitch to electric field stimulation.
  • (17) Though three of these presumable metabolites could slightly inhibit the binding of [3H]-KW-3049, they were not detected in rat and dog plasma at 0.5 h after oral administration of KW-3049.
  • (18) Lambing rates approach 1.5 lambs per ewe per year, but a death rate of 23 per cent and an offtake of 27 per cent, means that flock numbers are probably slightly declining.
  • (19) Subjects who trained an additional 52 wk showed a slight drop in SV at submaximal work loads from the initial increase following the first 9 wk.
  • (20) Steroid-treated steers showed a slight decline in synthesis which was significant (P less than 0.05) at week +5 post-implant while amino acid oxidation was significantly lower at weeks +2 (P less than 0.01) and +5 (P less than 0.05) compared with control animals.

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.