delicate

delicate is a 8-letter English word with 22 senses as adjective and noun in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring. Face value is 11 in Scrabble and 13 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

8 letters · Scrabble 11 · Words With Friends 13 · 22 senses

Definitions

1. adjective. Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
2. adjective. 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. adjective. Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful; as, "a delicate creature."
4. adjective. Fine or slender; minute; not coarse; -- said of a thread, or the like; as, delicate cotton.
5. adjective. Slight or smooth; light and yielding; -- said of texture; as, delicate lace or silk.
6. adjective. Soft and fair; -- said of the skin or a surface; as, a delicate cheek; a delicate complexion.
7. adjective. Light, or softly tinted; -- said of a color; as, a delicate blue.
8. adjective. Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; -- said of manners, conduct, or feelings; as, delicate behavior; delicate attentions; delicate thoughtfulness.
9. adjective. Tender; not able to endure hardship; feeble; frail; effeminate; -- said of constitution, health, etc.; as, a delicate child; delicate health.
10. adjective. Requiring careful handling; not to be rudely or hastily dealt with; nice; critical; as, a delicate subject or question.
11. adjective. Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
12. adjective. Nicely discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite; as, a delicate taste; a delicate ear for music.
13. adjective. Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes; as, a delicate thermometer.
14. noun. A choice dainty; a delicacy.
15. noun. A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
16. adjective. exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury

    "a delicate violin passage"

    "delicate china"

17. adjective. easily broken or damaged or destroyed

    "a kite too delicate to fly safely"

    "fragile porcelain plates"

    Synonyms: fragile, frail

18. adjective. difficult to handle; requiring great tact

    "delicate negotiations with the big powers"

    "hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"

    Synonyms: ticklish, touchy

19. adjective. developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

    "the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense"

    Synonyms: finespun

20. adjective. of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely

    "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

21. adjective. marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

    "a surgeon's delicate touch"

22. adjective. easily hurt

    "soft hands"

    "a baby's delicate skin"

    Synonyms: soft

Synonyms

fragile, frail, ticklish, touchy, finespun, soft

Common word forms

delicates, delicately, delicateness

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for DELICATE lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.