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subtleties

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Fine distinctions or delicate, indirect meanings. In older usage, it can suggest cleverness or evasiveness.

Detailed Definition
Subtleties refers to fine shades of meaning, delicate distinctions, or indirect expressions. Here it suggests the careful, hidden ways the speaker must speak while wearing the mask, rather than speaking plainly.
Example
Example in poetry:
“And mouth with myriad subtleties” treats subtleties as fine, difficult-to-name details of expression; “The subtleties of dusk undo the hard blue day” makes nuance a visual subject; “Read the subtleties: the pause, the turned-away hand” shows how poetry attends to implication; “Her grief had subtleties no loud elegy could hold” contrasts complexity with declaration.
Additional Notes
The noun “subtleties” is used in a more literary, less everyday sense here and may prompt readers to check its meaning.; Found in the poem, We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Also Known As
nuances intricacies
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