The painter's use of subtlety in shading gives the portrait a lifelike quality that is easy to overlook at first glance.
画家在阴影处理上的微妙精细使肖像具有逼真的质感，初看时很容易忽略。
Which choice best defines “subtlety”?
B — The quality of being delicate or precise. “subtlety” means the quality of being delicate or precise.
Which word means “the quality of being delicate or precise”?
B — subtlety. “subtlety” means the quality of being delicate or precise.
subtlety — the quality of being delicate or precise. In Chinese: 微妙，精细.
subtlety is pronounced /ˈsʌtlti/.
The painter's use of subtlety in shading gives the portrait a lifelike quality that is easy to overlook at first glance. (画家在阴影处理上的微妙精细使肖像具有逼真的质感，初看时很容易忽略。)
nuance, delicacy, finesse — all close in meaning to subtlety (the quality of being delicate or precise).
bluntness, obviousness — each the opposite of subtlety (the quality of being delicate or precise).
Yes. subtlety is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.