delicate
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- fine, deft, elegant, exquisite, graceful, precise, skilled, subtle
- subtle, choice, dainty, delicious, fine, savoury, tender
- fragile, flimsy, frail, slender, slight, tender, weak
- considerate, diplomatic, discreet, sensitive, tactful

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Antonyms: gross
Contrasted words: coarse, crude, vulgar, insensitive, undiscriminating, unperceptive, stalwart, stout, strong, sturdy, tenacious, tough, hale, healthy, robust, sound, well, wholesome, impolitic, imprudent, indiscreet, awkward, clumsy, gauche, inept, maladroit, unskillful
Related Words: delectable, delicious, delightful, balmy, gentle, lenient, mild, soft, aerial, airy, ethereal, perceptive, sensitive, feeble, fragile, frail, weak, sickly, unhealthy, decrepit, infirm, adept, expert, masterly, proficient, discreet, foresighted, prudent, careful, heedful, cautious, wary, uncertain, unpredictable, hair-trigger, volatile, sticky

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English Thesaurus: difficult, hard, tough, tricky, awkward, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

del‧i‧cate /ˈdelɪkət, ˈdelɪkɪt/ adjective
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Latin; Origin: delicatus]

1. needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively in order to avoid problems or failure:
There’s something I have to speak to you about – it’s a delicate matter.
delicate negotiations

2. easily damaged or broken Synonym : fragile:
delicate hand-cut glass
The sun can easily damage a child’s delicate skin.

3. old-fashioned someone who is delicate is hurt easily or easily becomes ill:
a delicate child

4. a part of the body that is delicate is attractive and graceful:
Her wrists and ankles were slim and delicate.
her delicate features

5. made skilfully and with attention to the smallest details:
a plate with a delicate pattern of leaves

6. a taste, smell, or colour that is delicate is pleasant and not strong:
The wine has a dry delicate flavour.
a delicate pink
—delicately adverb
⇒ indelicate

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

delicate
adj.
VERBS be, feel, look The glasses looked very delicate. Her bones felt as delicate as a bird's.
become
ADV. extremely, very | quite, rather, somewhat a rather delicate child This is a somewhat delicate subject.
surprisingly He had a surprisingly delicate touch.
politically a politically delicate situation

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

difficult not easy to do, understand, or deal with:
a difficult question
The homework was really difficult.
It is difficult to see how peace can be achieved in the region.
hard difficult. Hard is less formal than difficult and is very common in spoken English:
The test was really hard.
a hard decision
It was hard to forgive him.
tough very difficult, because you have to use a lot of effort, or because it affects you emotionally:
a tough race
Doctors have to make tough decisions about who to treat first.
The team faces some tough competition.
Life is tough sometimes.
tricky difficult because it is complicated and full of problems:
She had helped him out of a tricky situation.
Merging the two companies was bound to be tricky.
awkward rather difficult to deal with – used especially when something could be embarrassing:
You’ve put me in a very awkward position.
It was getting dark and foggy, which made the rescue even more awkward.
challenging difficult in an interesting or enjoyable way:
I wanted a job that was more challenging.
a challenging piece of music
demanding difficult and tiring, because it takes a lot of effort:
Being a nurse in a busy hospital is a demanding job.
it can be very demanding bringing up young children.
daunting if something seems daunting, you think that it will be difficult and you do not feel confident about being able to do it:
a daunting challenge
The task seemed a little daunting at first.
delicate needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively, especially in order to avoid offending people or causing problems:
This is a very delicate subject, and it can be difficult to talk about it with your parents.
He thanked me for the way in which this delicate matter had been handled.
tough question/decision/job/game/race

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

fragile easily broken or damaged:
The documents are old and very fragile.
a fragile glass case
The seventeenth century wall hangings are extemely fragile.
delicate easily damaged – used especially about things that are made from thin material and look attractive:
a delicate gold necklace
The plant has delicate blue flowers.
delicate fabrics
brittle brittle hair, nails, bones etc have a hard surface, but they break easily, especially because they are not in good condition:
As you get older, your bones become more brittle.
a special shampoo for dry and brittle hair
breakable breakable objects must be handled carefully because they will break easily:
Put breakable objects out of the reach of children.
breakable ornaments
flimsy made of thin material that tears easily, or badly-made and likely to break easily:
a flimsy cotton shirt
a flimsy wooden table
frail especially literary not strong and therefore easy to break, damage, or hurt:
The young trees are frail and need to be protected from the wind.
a frail little fishing boat
a frail old lady

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

ill [not before noun] especially British English suffering from a disease or not feeling well:
Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.
I woke up feeling really ill.
sick especially American English ill:
She’s been sick with the flu.
a sick child
Dan got sick on vacation.
not very well [not before noun] ill, but not seriously ill:
Sarah’s not very well – she has a throat infection.
unwell [not before noun] formal ill:
The singer had been unwell for some time.
Symptoms include fever, aching muscles, and feeling generally unwell.
poorly [not before noun] British English spoken ill:
Your grandmother’s been very poorly lately.
in a bad way [not before noun] very ill because of a serious injury or disease:
You’d better call an ambulance – she looks like she’s in a bad way.
be off sick British English, be out sick American English to be not at work because of an illness:
Two teachers were off sick yesterday.
under the weather (also off colour British English) [not before noun] informal slightly ill:
Sorry I haven’t called you – I’ve been a bit under the weather lately.
You look a bit off colour – are you sure you’re OK?
run down [not before noun] feeling slightly ill and tired all the time, for example because you have been working too hard, or not eating well:
Some people take extra vitamins if they are feeling run down.
in poor health unhealthy and often ill:
Chopin was already in poor health when he arrived on the island.
delicate weak and likely to become ill easily:
She was delicate and pale and frequently complained of headaches.
He had a delicate constitution and throughout his adult life suffered from various illnesses.
sickly a sickly child is often ill:
He was a sickly child and spent a lot of time at home on his own.
His younger daughter was sickly and died when she was young.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

weak not physically strong, sometimes because you are ill:
Tom’s had flu and he’s still feeling weak.
The doctors said she was too weak to have an operation.
He suffered constantly from a weak chest.
frail weak and thin, especially because you are old:
a frail 85-year-old lady
My grandfather’s becoming quite frail now.
shaky feeling weak in your legs and only able to walk slowly and unsteadily:
When I came out of hospital I was a bit shaky for a while.
puny /ˈpjuːni/ especially disapproving small, thin, and looking very weak:
his puny white arms
He was a puny little boy who was often bullied at school.
feeble especially written weak and unable to do much because you are very ill, very old or young:
For a week she was too feeble to get out of bed.
a tiny, feeble baby
delicate weak and often becoming ill easily:
a delicate child
She had rather a delicate constitution (=her body easily became ill).
infirm formal weak or ill for a long time, especially because you are old:
a residential home for people who are elderly and infirm
There are special facilities for wheelchair users and infirm guests.
malnourished formal weak or ill because you have not had enough good food to eat:
Half a million people there are severely malnourished.
The organization provides emergency feeding for malnourished children.
fragile made of a thin material that is easy to break or damage – used when something needs to be handled carefully:
a fragile china vase
Be careful of those glasses – they’re very fragile.
flimsy not well-made from strong materials and so easily damaged – used about furniture, houses etc:
a flimsy plastic table
This keyboard’s very cheap but it’s a bit flimsy.
rickety /ˈrɪkəti, ˈrɪkɪti/ in very bad condition and likely to break – used about a building, piece of furniture, vehicle etc:
a rickety old bicycle
He lived in a rickety hut on the beach for several years.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

weak unable to support much weight, and likely to break:
The foundations of the building are rather weak.
an old chair with weak legs
fragile made of a thin material that is easy to break or damage – used when something needs to be handled carefully:
a fragile china vase
Be careful of those glasses – they’re very fragile.
delicate easy to break or damage – used especially about soft materials, skin etc:
Wash delicate fabrics separately.
This soap is good for delicate skin.
flimsy not well-made from strong materials and so easily damaged – used about furniture, houses etc:
a flimsy plastic table
This keyboard’s very cheap but it’s a bit flimsy.
rickety /ˈrɪkəti, ˈrɪkɪti/ in very bad condition and likely to break – used about a building, piece of furniture, vehicle etc:
a rickety old bicycle
He lived in a rickety hut on the beach for several years.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲