nuance

Borrowed from French nuance (“nuance, shade, hue”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.ɑːns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.ɑːns/, /ˈnuː.ɑːns/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

  • Audio (New Jersey):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈnjʉː.aːns/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

nuance (countable and uncountable, plural nuances)

1. A minor distinction.

   hidden nuances

2. Subtlety or fine detail.

   Understanding the basics is easy, but appreciating the nuances takes years.

   • 1901: Alpheus Spring Packard, Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution

     ...the richer our collections become, the more numerous are the proofs that all is more or less shaded (nuance), that the remarkable differences become obliterated...

   • 2016, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Encryption”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 5, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

     It’s a miracle Lindsey Graham has met the concept of nuance. And this is the man who once warned “the world is literally about to blow up.” So you’re not dealing with someone who likes to dabble with grey areas.

• nuanced

nuance (third-person singular simple present nuances, present participle nuancing, simple past and past participle nuanced)

1. (transitive) To apply a nuance to; to change or redefine in a subtle way.

• IPA^(key): [ˈnuant͡sɛ]
• IPA^(key): [ˈnɪjant͡sɛ]
• Hyphenation: nuan‧ce

nuance f

1. nuance

• “nuance”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “nuance”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Borrowed from French nuance, from Middle French nuance, from Latin [Term?].

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /nyˈɑ̃sə/, /nyˈɑnsə/
• Hyphenation: nu‧an‧ce

nuance f (plural nuances or nuancen, diminutive nuanceje n or nuancetje n)

1. nuance, subtle distinction

• nuanceren

• Afrikaans: nuanse
• → Indonesian: nuansa

From nuer +‎ -ance.

• IPA^(key): /nɥɑ̃s/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Homophone: nuances
• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

nuance f (plural nuances)

1. nuance
2. gradation of colors
3. (music) dynamics

• “nuance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• nuança

Borrowed from French nuance.

• Hyphenation: nu‧an‧ce

nuance f (plural nuances)

1. gradation of colour
2. nuance (minor distinction; fine detail)