Meaning of delicate in English

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈdɛlɪkət/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    delicate

    Definitions

    1. marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

    Examples

    • « a surgeon's delicate touch »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. easily broken or damaged or destroyed

    Examples

    • « a kite too delicate to fly safely »
    • « fragile porcelain plates »
    • « fragile old bones »
    • « a frail craft »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. easily hurt

    Examples

    • « soft hands »
    • « a baby's delicate skin »

    Synonyms

  4. 4. developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

    Examples

    • « the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense »

    Synonyms

  5. 5. difficult to handle

    Examples

    • « requiring great tact »
    • « delicate negotiations with the big powers »
    • « hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter »

    Synonyms

  6. 6. of an instrument or device

    Examples

    • « capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely »
    • « almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments »

    Synonyms

  7. Qualitative Adjective

    delicate

    Etymology

    late Middle English (in the sense ‘delightful, charming’): from French délicat or Latin delicatus, of unknown origin. Senses also expressed in Middle English (now obsolete) include ‘voluptuous’, ‘self-indulgent’, ‘fastidious’, and ‘effeminate’

    Definitions

    1. exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing

    Examples

    • « susceptible to injury »
    • « a delicate violin passage »
    • « delicate china »
    • « a delicate flavor »
    • « the delicate wing of a butterfly »

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

See also