subtilize
verb
Forms subtilizes subtilizing subtilized subtilise
- verb (transitive) To make subtle; to make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse.
- verb (transitive) To refine; to spin into niceties. “to subtilize arguments”
- verb (intransitive) To use subtle arguments or distinctions.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French subtiliser; equivalent to subtle + -ize.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse.
- verb To refine; to spin into niceties; as, to subtilize arguments.
- verb To refine in argument; to make very nice distinctions. Milner.
Etymology [L. subtiliser.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “subtilize”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details