Definition of DELICATE

delicate

Plural: delicates

Adjective

  • exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury
    • "a delicate violin passage"
    • "delicate china"
    • "a delicate flavor"
    • "the delicate wing of a butterfly"

Adjective Satellite

  • marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique
    • "a surgeon's delicate touch"
  • easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    • "a kite too delicate to fly safely"
  • easily hurt
    • "a baby's delicate skin"
  • developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety
  • difficult to handle; requiring great tact
    • "delicate negotiations with the big powers"
  • of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely
    • "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

Adj

  • Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
  • Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
  • Intended for use with fragile items.
  • Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
  • Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
  • Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
  • Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
  • Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
  • Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
  • Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
  • Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
  • Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
  • Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.

Noun

  • Something that is particularly fine or sensitive; a delicacy.
  • A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
  • A choice dainty; a delicacy.
  • A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
  • A moth, Mythimna vitellina.

Examples

  • a delicate child
  • a delicate dish
  • a delicate ear for music
  • a delicate shade of blue
  • a delicate taste
  • a delicate thermometer
  • delicate attentions
  • delicate behaviour
  • delicate flavour
  • delicate health
  • delicate thoughtfulness
  • Don't put that in with your jeans: it's a delicate!
  • Her face was delicate.
  • Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
  • Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
  • The negotiations were very delicate.
  • The spider wove a delicate web.
  • There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
  • Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
  • Treating a valuable tile like ’Z’ as a DELICATE resource is crucial in Words With Friends.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English delicat, from Latin dēlicātus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, (in Medieval Latin also) fine, slender”), from dēlicia + -ātus (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), usually in plural dēliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from dēliciō (“I allure, entice”), from dē- (“away”) + laciō (“I lure, I deceive”), from Proto-Italic *lakjō (“to draw, pull”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare delight, delicious and Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”). The noun is from a substantivization of the adjective (see -ate).

Antonyms

rugged

Scrabble Score: 11

delicate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
delicate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
delicate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

delicate: valid Words With Friends Word