subtilize means to make subtle; to make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse. It carries an Arena rating of 1635, earned across 36 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, subtilize ranks #2,030 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,500 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,714 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #4,912 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “subtilize” is a great word
SUBTILIZE — [Verb] To refine an idea or sensation to an extreme degree of fineness; to argue or make distinctions with razor-thin precision. From French subtiliser, from Medieval Latin subtīlizāre, from Latin subtīlis ("fine, thin, precise") + the suffix -izāre ("-ize"). First attested in English 1585–95. Unlike "simplify," which pares away to a clear core, or "coarsen," which grinds nuance into grit, to subtilize is to weave an ever-finer mesh of distinction. It is the jeweler filing the last microscopic burr from a setting, the chef reducing a stock until its flavor is a mere haunting vapor, or the theologian splitting a doctrinal hair until it becomes a beam of light—a patient cultivation of the barely-there, where the ultimate refinement risks vanishing entirely.
Etymology
From French subtiliser; equivalent to subtle + -ize.
verb
- To make subtle; to make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse.
- To refine; to spin into niceties.e.g.“to subtilize arguments”
- To use subtle arguments or distinctions.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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