subtilistn.
/ˈsʌtl̩ɪst/, /ˈsʌbt(ᵻ)lɪst/, U.S. /ˈsədl̩əst/, /ˈsəbtl̩əst/ A person given to the use of subtleties or subtle argument; a person characterized by subtlety.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [noun] > subtle point > person addicted to
subtilist1610
subtlist1829
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > [noun] > practitioner of
ergonist1593
ergo1597
subtilist1610
subtilizer1611
ob-and-soller1678
ergoteerer1687
splitter1699
ergotist1739
subtlist1829
straw-splitter1844
hair-splitter1851
pilpulist1859
ergoteur1881
1610 T. Morton Encounter against M. Parsons ii. xi. 159 If..all the subtilists Equiuocators themselues should hunt by all circumstances that are, to find this reserseruation of a Nose, I suppose that they could neuer smell it out.
1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 49 The many forraign minded and addicted subtilists amongst us.
1804 T. Fessenden Theoret. Explan. Sci. of Sanctity ii. 62 The serpent is Satan's kind of animal, as the lamb is Christ's. Naturalists speak of him as an eminent subtilist.
1829 T. Carlyle tr. ‘Novalis’ in Foreign Rev. Dec. 126 The true Scholastic is a mystical Subtilist [1840 Crit. & Misc. Ess. Subtlist].
1922 New Republic 30 Aug. 27/1 The delicate nuances, the lucid clarity so native to the French, and particularly to that master subtilist, Remy de Gourmont.
2004 M. Schmidt First Poets Note 48 Ridicules over-interpreters and biographical subtilists.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1610