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View synonyms for delicacy

delicacy

[ del-i-kuh-see ]

noun

, plural del·i·ca·cies.
  1. fineness of texture, quality, etc.; softness; daintiness:

    the delicacy of lace.

    Antonyms: coarseness

  2. something delightful or pleasing, especially a choice food considered with regard to its rarity, costliness, or the like:

    Caviar is a great delicacy.

  3. the quality of being easily broken or damaged; fragility.
  4. the quality of requiring or involving great care or tact:

    negotiations of great delicacy.

  5. extreme sensitivity; precision of action or operation; minute accuracy:

    the delicacy of a skillful surgeon's touch; a watch mechanism of unusual delicacy.

    Synonyms: discrimination, sensitivity, circumspection, consideration, prudence

  6. fineness of perception or feeling; sensitiveness:

    the delicacy of the pianist's playing.

    Antonyms: coarseness

  7. fineness of feeling with regard to what is fitting, proper, etc.:

    Delicacy would not permit her to be rude.

  8. sensitivity with regard to the feelings of others:

    She criticized him with such delicacy that he was not offended.

  9. bodily weakness; liability to sickness; frailty.
  10. Linguistics. (especially in systemic linguistics) the degree of minuteness pursued at a given stage of analysis in specifying distinctions in linguistic description.
  11. Obsolete. sensuous indulgence; luxury.


delicacy

/ ˈdɛlɪkəsɪ /

noun

  1. fine or subtle quality, character, construction, etc

    delicacy of craftsmanship

  2. fragile, soft, or graceful beauty
  3. something that is considered choice to eat, such as caviar
  4. fragile construction or constitution; frailty
  5. refinement of feeling, manner, or appreciation

    the delicacy of the orchestra's playing

  6. fussy or squeamish refinement, esp in matters of taste, propriety, etc
  7. need for tactful or sensitive handling
  8. accuracy or sensitivity of response or operation, as of an instrument
  9. (in systemic grammar) the level of detail at which a linguistic description is made; the degree of fine distinction in a linguistic description
  10. obsolete.
    gratification, luxury, or voluptuousness


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Other Words From

  • hyper·deli·ca·cy noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of delicacy1

First recorded in 1325–75, delicacy is from the Middle English word delicasie. See delicate, -cy

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Example Sentences

Not content to just mass-produce lab-grown fish fillets, it has focused on developing prized delicacies, especially fish maw.

From Time

Enjoy the local delicacy with this summery cocktail that uses TINCUP’s bourbon, which is aged for 10 years.

It was a delicacy from the gods in order to not go to sleep hungry, which is one of the worst sensations in life.

She next took on four papers that had been rapidly published early in 2020, two of them in Nature, describing viruses in pangolins—endangered scale-covered mammals sometimes eaten as delicacies in China—that shared similarities to SARS-CoV-2.

The latter work’s delicacy, typical of Yamaguchi’s style, is infused here with new urgency.

At the time, the island had not yet been named after the delicacy, and went by the decidedly less fantastical Twickenham Ait.

C, lastly, I just think [Perritaz] has a natural taste for purity, delicacy, and ethereal balance.

His hilarious parody-fable, “A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig,” traces the supposed genesis of that culinary delicacy.

In their scenes, there is delicacy, there is love, and there is hope.

St. Peter Damian damned her for “excessive delicacy” in preferring such a rarefied implement to her God-given hands.

Flowers, fruits, and insects were her favorite subjects, and were painted with rare delicacy.

I think that he had more virtuosity, and yet more delicacy of feeling, than either Rubinstein or Blow.

The officer, with less delicacy of attention to the supposed slumbers of an invalid, followed him.

Many of these pipes are sculptured from the most obdurate stones and display great delicacy of workmanship.

He evidently avoided taking a share in the discussion of his Transatlantic career, probably from delicacy to his English auditor.

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