By subtiliating the texture of the glaze, the artist achieved a luminous depth that changed with the light.

When revising the manuscript, she subtiliated the arguments to make them less blunt.

The conservator chose to subtiliate the aged pigment, thinning it until the brushstrokes lost weight and the painting seemed to breathe anew.

When she edits the manuscript, she subtiliates the dialogue to give it more emotional resonance.

The 17th-century natural philosopher proposed that light propagated through space via materia subtilis, an ethereal medium thought to fill vacuums and pass through solid objects.