Help with the word "nuanced"

[dirida]

Today I came across the adjective nuanced, and even though I googled it, still can't get its full meaning, only a general idea.

In which cases would you characterize a person as nuanced?

How would you describe a nuanced discussion?

Finally, if you can think of some apropos translations in greek, it would be very helpful too

Thanks for reading!

 

[διαφορετικός]

I understand "nuanced" as "distinguishing itself / oneself in many details" or "varying in many details".
I would translate it to "διαφέροντας σε πολλές λεπτομέρειες". (Or "περιέχοντας πολλές αποχρώσεις".)

In which cases would you characterize a person as nuanced?

The person has many unnoticeable properties which differ from those of other people.
Actually I would not use the word in this general way, since everybody has many nuances.

How would you describe a nuanced discussion?

The meaning of the word must be different in this context: The discussion pays attention to many nuances (distinguishing details).

 

[Helleno File]

Hi dirida. You will find several threads in the WR English Only Forum on both nuance and nuanced. I use the WR app and its main disadvantage is not having a way to hyperlink to other threads. (Or at least not that I can find.)

A nuance is a fine (=extremely small) difference, a λεπτή διαφορά, I think in Greek. So a nuanced discussion is one that takes into account subtle differences of view, meaning or interpretation. This is not quite the same as detail which may refer to things, facts or events, while a nuance is most likely to be some kind of perception of or statement about them. As such I dont think we would describe a person as "nuanced", but their ideas or comments could be. Other English speakers may disagree with me on this point.

Nuanced is generally a positive adjective about a desirable state of affairs, as in "Discussions on the WR Greek forum are often very nuanced" You would be less likely to hear a statement such as "The discussion was too nuanced", unless you were suggesting that someone was not intelligent enough to follow it! However as the word has become more popular people are sometimes using it as a disguised way of criticising other people in a discussion. So if someone says "I think we need a more nuanced discussion here" ("here" having an emphatic force in this context) they may just mean "Lets get away from simply sounding off about the facts". On the other hand they may mean they want the discussion to support their nuances rather than soneone else's! This is slightly more likely to be the case if someone said "I find A's views more nuanced than B's".

 

[dirida]

διαφορετικός, I heard it from an American exactly like that "... that's where you can start to have a more nuanced discussion about ..." and I assumed it was grammatically correct. But even native speakers make mistakes (I need to write it at a post-it note!)

I see how "...that's where you can start having a discussion that pays attention to many nuances..." would sound better and be more understandable


Helleno File, my bad that I didn't check the EO forum. To be honest with you I decided to post the topic on the Greek forum, with the hope that I'll get an answer in Greek, considering that it would be easier for me to understand the meaning of this special word, and maybe some greek translations... But your replies are insightful. Thankfully you gave a detailed example which made me realize that we also use this adjective sometimes in order to describe something unusual (in a good way ofc!)
For example,

λεπτή συζήτηση :
1. meaning that it was about a sensitive topic (like a health issue or a divorce)
2. to emphasize how delicately the speakers covered something ( usually an important issue, maybe in the academic field, or it could be also said to describe a beautiful interview)

λεπτοί τρόποι:
Essentially this is a compliment about someone's good manners. I would be very careful using this phrase as it doesn't just express that someone is polite, but that he also has elegance in his moves, gestures, and way of speaking.

λεπτός άνθρωπος: (rarely used, if compared with the two previous examples)
Literally, it means that someone is thin (what a surprise!)
Figuratively, it characterizes a person with nuanced manners (λεπτούς τρόπους) as a whole. So he has to also have qualities like responsibility, honesty etc.


I want to thank you both for your time and interest in this question

 

[Acestor]

Με βάση τα παραπάνω, ιδού και πολλά χρήσιμα παραδείγματα με το «λεπτών αποχρώσεων»:

"λεπτών αποχρώσεων" - Google Search

 

[dirida]

Χρήσιμη προσθήκη. Πολύ όμορφη και εντυπωσιακή η έκφραση λεπτές αποχρώσεις, ιδιαίτερα για την περιγραφή συναισθημάτων /εκφράσεων προσώπου.

Ευχαριστώ Acestor!

 

[Helleno File]

Thanks dirida - great examples! And Acestor for λεπτών αποχρώσεων - nuanced in two words!