The Meaning of Nuanced: What It Is and How To Use It

What does the word nuanced mean, and how can it be used in a sentence? This article will cover the meaning of nuanced and more!

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The term nuanced has a nuanced definition! This article will cover the meaning of the word nuanced, how a person can use the word nuanced in a sentence, the origin of the word, translations, synonyms, and antonyms. 

Keep reading to learn all about the word nuanced and how to use it!

What Does Nuanced Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, nuanced is an adjective that means subtle and delicate in meaning or appearance. If something is nuanced, that means that it has slight differences or small differences from something else.

What Is the Origin of the Word Nuanced?

According to Vocabulary, the word nuanced comes from 18th century French. This word derives from the Latin nubes, which means a cloud. Clouds have a lot of subtle variations in shade and lines, so it makes sense that the French would take inspiration from the subtle shades of clouds.

How Can Nuanced Be Used in a Sentence?

The word nuanced can describe both physical and metaphorical subjects. Nuance can refer to a subject’s appearance and its meaning. 

Take a look at these examples of nuanced to learn how to use this new word in a sentence, then try coming up with your own example sentences that contain the word nuanced!

Example 1: A Painting With Nuance

The painter created a nuanced rosy glow of the setting sunlight in November, with a slight variation between the subtle shades and transitions of color and shadows.

Here, the colors of the painting are very nuanced, and it shows skill on the part of the painter. 

Example 2: A Film With Nuance

There were layers of detail and nuance to the film that people only realized upon a second and third viewing.

In this example, nuance is used in a metaphorical sense to show that the film has deep meanings that might take people multiple viewings to understand. 

Example 3: A Conversation With Nuance

The subtle nuances of their conversation made it seem innocuous on the outside, but the code they used was deeply devious.

Additionally, in this example, nuanced is used to refer to a conversation. There is a depth of meaning to the conversation that might not exist in all discussions.

What Are Translations of Nuanced?

Things around the world can be nuanced, and the idea of nuance is not exclusive to the English language. By referencing this list of translations provided by Nice Translator, you can learn how different countries around the world say nuanced. 

Once you have learned the different ways to say nuanced in other languages, you can communicate about subtle differences with people who do not speak English.

  • Chinese (PRC): 肠
  • Norwegian: nyansert
  • Estonian: nüanss
  • Finnish: nuantunut
  • Czech: nucený
  • Malayalam: nuanceed
  • Amharic: የተስተካከለ
  • Korean: 뉘앙스
  • Swedish: nyanserad
  • Thai: ที่เหมาะสม
  • Latvian: niansēts
  • Marathi: nuancated
  • Bengali: nuanced
  • Welsh: nrudded
  • French: nuancé
  • Italian: sfumato
  • Kannada: ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮವಾಗಿ
  • Japanese: nu nu
  • Arabic: الدقة في درجات االإختلاف
  • Russian: нюанс
  • Serbian: нијансиран
  • Greek: χρωστικός
  • Hindi: सूक्ष्म
  • Lithuanian: Nuansai
  • Turkish: detaylı
  • Portuguese (Portugal): nuancemente
  • Portuguese (Brazil): nuancemente
  • Polish: nuaminowany
  • Hebrew: nuanced
  • Danish: nuanceret
  • German: nuanciert
  • Croatian: nijansiran
  • Hungarian: árnyalt
  • Spanish: matizado
  • Slovak: nudný
  • Tamil: nuanced
  • Ukrainian: нюанс
  • Romanian: nuantat
  • Gujarati: ઉન્નત
  • Catalan: matisada
  • Vietnamese: sắc thái
  • Slovenian: niand
  • Dutch: genuanceerd
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 腸
  • Basque: utuNontze

What Are Synonyms of the Word Nuanced?

To talk about nuance in varied ways, you can reference this list of synonyms from Power Thesaurus. Learning synonyms can be useful if you feel like you’ve used the word nuance too many times and want to vary your language. 

Additionally, knowing synonyms of the word nuanced can be helpful if another person does not know what the word means and needs further clarification. 

  • abstruse
  • accurate
  • admirable
  • adorable
  • adorbs
  • aerial
  • aesthetic
  • agreeable
  • airy
  • alluring
  • appealing
  • arousing
  • arresting
  • as pretty as a picture
  • attenuate
  • attenuated
  • attractive
  • beauteous
  • beautiful
  • beckoning
  • beguiling
  • bewitching
  • bijou
  • bonnie
  • bonny
  • bootylicious
  • captivating
  • careful
  • charismatic
  • charming
  • comely
  • consummate
  • cute
  • dainty
  • darling
  • dead on
  • dear
  • definite
  • deft
  • delicate
  • delightful
  • desirable
  • detailed
  • diaphanous
  • dinky
  • dishy
  • divine
  • exquisite
  • fine
  • fine-drawn
  • finespun
  • hairline
  • hairsplitting
  • uncorrupted
  • meticulous
  • perfect
  • precise
  • refined
  • subtle
  • superior
  • ultra-fine
  • winning

What Are Antonyms of Nuanced?

If something is not nuanced, that means it is loud and obvious. If you are trying to learn different ways to talk about something that is the opposite of nuanced, you can reference this list of antonyms from Power Thesaurus

How many of these antonyms of nuanced did you already know?

  • above board
  • all wool and a yard wide
  • amuck
  • appalling
  • apparent
  • aromatic
  • artless
  • barefaced
  • blatant
  • broad
  • candid
  • clear
  • contemptuous
  • direct
  • evident
  • eye-catching
  • fairly obvious
  • forthright
  • guileless
  • half-assed
  • harmless
  • harsh
  • honest
  • innocent
  • like shooting fish in a barrel
  • loud
  • loyal
  • manifest
  • naive
  • natural
  • noisy
  • noticeable
  • obvious
  • open
  • overpowering
  • patent
  • plain
  • prominent
  • robust
  • simple
  • sincere
  • straight from the shoulder
  • straightforward
  • strong
  • stupid
  • tangible
  • transparent
  • unperceptive
  • unpleasant
  • unsophisticated
  • unsubtle
  • writ large

Conclusion

The definition of nuanced is something that is subtle or delicate in meaning or appearance. If something is nuanced, it has subtle or slight differences. Nuanced is an adjective. The word nuance is French and Latin in origin. 

Sources:

  1. Nuanced synonyms – 254 Words and Phrases for Nuanced | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Nuanced antonyms – Opposites of Nuanced | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Nuance – Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com 
  4. Nuanced definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  5. Nuanced | Nice Translator