shifty vs subtle

shifty

adj
  • Resourceful; full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients. 

  • Moving from one object to another; not looking directly and steadily at the person with whom one is speaking. 

  • Subject to frequent changes in direction. 

  • Having the appearance of being dishonest, criminal, or unreliable. 

subtle

adj
  • Cunning, skillful. 

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

  • Barely noticeable, not obvious, indistinct. 

  • Cleverly contrived. 

  • Insidious. 

  • Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood. 

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