n. [ Contr. fr. subtility. ] 1. The quality or state of being subtile; thinness; fineness; as, the subtility of air or light. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Refinement; extreme acuteness; subtlety. [ 1913 Webster ] Intelligible discourses are spoiled by too much subtility in nice divisions. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. Cunning; skill; craft. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] To learn a lewd man this subtility. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Slyness in design; artifice; guile; a cunning design or artifice; a trick; subtlety. [ 1913 Webster ] O full of all subtility and all mischief. Acts xiii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ In senses 2, 3, and 4 the word is more commonly written subtlety. [ 1913 Webster ] | 