I’ve already read the definition of nuance as a verb, but it doesn’t help much. It just says “give nuances to.” What does it mean in the following context: “new information that nuanced their understanding of the situation.” What does it mean to give nuances to one’s understanding? That sounds incoherent to me.
2 Answers
I believe we live in times when the noun nuance is gaining popularity as a verb. Consequently, three prominent dictionaries recognise it as a noun but only one of them lists it as a verb.
Cambridge
a very slight difference in appearance, meaning, sound, etc.
Merriam Webster
1: a subtle distinction or variation 2: a subtle quality
3: sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)
Collins
NOUN
- a subtle difference in colour, meaning, tone, etc; a shade or graduation
VERB (tr; passive)- to give subtle differences to
Using the Collins verb definition we have:
new information that nuanced their understanding of the situation
means
new information that gave subtle differences to their understanding of the situation
This somewhat literal use of the definition, when taken with the meanings of the noun, shows that to nuance is to give subtleties, to introduce refinements, to reveal small details, to colour or to impart finesse to the main argument or idea.
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Right, but what does it mean to give subtle differences to an understanding? Commented Oct 4, 2022 at 13:56
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For example, As very young children we understand over-simply that time is split into night and day. A more nuanced view is that the transition from one to the other is sunset and evening, sunrise and dawn. Similarly a simple view is that night is dark, day is light. A more nuanced view is that there may be twilight, that night is illuminated by the moon, by stars, by the aurora. All these differences to the simple understanding are given by nuanced argument.– AntonCommented Oct 4, 2022 at 21:42
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The past participle, nuanced, is more common than the present tense.– XanneCommented Oct 5, 2022 at 5:47
According to The Chicago Manual of Style on line, usage of nuance as a verb dates back to late 19th century:
Some verbs are of course nouns: break, hit, smile, laugh. “Nuance” has been a noun, according to both Merriam-Webster and the OED, since 1781, when Horace Walpole wrote “The more expert one were at nuances , the more poetic one should be.” It has been a verb since only 1897, when W. Archer wrote “Nor the elocutionary skill to give variety to a long speech, nuancing it, if I may say so, by means of his voice alone.” This from the OED; M-W does not recognize the verb form.
“Nuance” as a verb is one of those developments that seems to stand out. I wasn’t alive in 1897, but I seem to remember noticing a few years back that an awful lot of people were using “nuance” as a verb. It bothered me, and it still does. But I’m probably being a little reactionary
answered Oct 4, 2022 at 7:22
