hieroglyphic vs subtle

hieroglyphic

adj
  • difficult to decipher 

  • of, relating to, or written with this system of symbols 

noun
  • Undecipherable handwriting or secret symbol. 

  • Any symbol used in this system; a hieroglyph. 

  • A writing system of ancient Egypt, Minoans, Maya and other civilizations, using pictorial symbols to represent individual sounds as a rebus 

subtle

adj
  • Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood. 

  • Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency. 

  • Barely noticeable, not obvious, indistinct. 

  • Cleverly contrived. 

  • Cunning, skillful. 

  • Insidious. 

How often have the words hieroglyphic and subtle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )