Nuance

 WORD OF THE DAY

nuance / noun / NOO-ahnss

Definition
1: a subtle distinction or variation
2a: a subtle quality
2b: nicety
3: sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)

Examples
“Chiwetel Ejiofor gets to go all kinds of over-the-top as an alien who has come to Earth to save both our planet and his own, but [Naomie] Harris has the difficult job of countering that with believable reactions. She's our eyes into this sometimes inspired show, and Harris gives the character nuance that so many other actresses would have missed.”
 — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 22 June 2022

In every silky statement from General Musharraf about the need for a short—in other words: limited—war, and in every nuance of the Pakistani official posture, I was sure I detected the local version of Schadenfreude.
— Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair, January 2002

Did You Know?
The history of nuance starts in Latin with the noun nūbēs, meaning "cloud."
Nūbēs floated into Middle French as nue, also meaning “cloud,” and nue gave rise to nuer, meaning “to make shades of color.”
Nuer in turn produced nuance, which in Middle French meant “shade of color.”
English borrowed nuance from French, with the meaning “a subtle distinction or variation,” in the late 18th century. That use persists today.
Additionally, nuance is sometimes used in a specific musical sense, designating a subtle, expressive variation in a musical performance (such as in tempo, dynamic intensity, or timbre) that is not indicated in the score.