DELICATE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Delicate

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/dˈɛləkət/ Listen

adjective

Delicate adj.

1.

Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring. (R.) "Dives, for his delicate life, to the devil went." "Haarlem is a very delicate town."

2.

Pleasing to the senses; refinedly agreeable; hence, adapted to please a nice or cultivated taste; nice; fine; elegant; as, a delicate dish; delicate flavor.

3.

Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful; as, "a delicate creature."

4.

Fine or slender; minute; not coarse; said of a thread, or the like; as, delicate cotton.

5.

Slight or smooth; light and yielding; said of texture; as, delicate lace or silk.

6.

Soft and fair; said of the skin or a surface; as, a delicate cheek; a delicate complexion.

7.

Light, or softly tinted; said of a color; as, a delicate blue.

8.

Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings; as, delicate behavior; delicate attentions; delicate thoughtfulness.

9.

Tender; not able to endure hardship; feeble; frail; effeminate; said of constitution, health, etc.; as, a delicate child; delicate health. "A delicate and tender prince."

10.

Requiring careful handling; not to be rudely or hastily dealt with; nice; critical; as, a delicate subject or question. "There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth."

11.

Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.

12.

Nicely discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite; as, a delicate taste; a delicate ear for music.

13.

Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes; as, a delicate thermometer.

noun

Delicate n.

1.

A choice dainty; a delicacy. (R.) "With abstinence all delicates he sees."

2.

A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person. "All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbors, are only of the Corinth metal."

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Etymology of 'Delicate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Delicate" Quotes from Famous Books

... it without discussing these great matters and the laws which guide decorative art generally. It happens conveniently, therefore, as the technical part requires less space, that these things should be treated of in this particular book, and it becomes the author's delicate and difficult task to do so. He, therefore, wishes to make clear at starting the spirit in which the ...

— Stained Glass Work - A text-book for students and workers in glass • C. W. Whall

... perfumed hair and in the most exquisitely careless of morning toilets, from her luxurious dressing-room. She looked at herself in the cheval-glass before she left the room. A long night's rest had brought back the delicate rose-tints of her complexion, and the natural luster of her blue eyes. That unnatural light which had burned so fearfully the day before had gone, and my lady smiled triumphantly as she contemplated the reflection of her beauty. The days were gone in which ...

— Lady Audley's Secret • Mary Elizabeth Braddon

... smelling; and the gratifications proper to it are the various kinds of fragrance. The love of self-nourishment, grounded in the love of imbibing goods, is the sense of tasting; and the delights proper to it are the various kinds of delicate foods. The love of knowing objects, grounded in the love of circumspection and self-preservation, is the sense of touching, and the gratifications proper to it are the various kinds of titillation. The reason why the love of conjunction ...

— The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love • Emanuel Swedenborg

... a foremost place in the production of articles needing delicate workmanship, and it is therefore not surprising that they should at an early period have turned their attention to the art of Violin-making, which requires in a high degree both skilful workmanship and artistic treatment. The French manufacture ...

— The Violin - Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators • George Hart

... make the lady feel that it was an honor to us to share these things with her, and it was really gratifying to see her calm enjoyment of delicacies to which she had long been a stranger. I think, too, that the fragrant cup of tea and the delicate bit of toast, taken to the sick man, may have brought to his mind tender recollections of a time when he lived like a gentleman, and dispelled for a little while the memory of the family troubles, and the complication of misfortunes which had reduced him to poverty ...

— 'Three Score Years and Ten' - Life-Long Memories of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and Other - Parts of the West • Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve

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