Meanings
noundelicacy (countable and uncountable, plural delicacies)
plural delicacies
- countableuncountableThe quality of being delicate.
[…] for unless a matter be true enough to stand a good deal of misrepresentation, its truth is not of a very robust order, and the blame will rather lie with its own delicacy than with the carelessness of the crusher.
1878, Samuel Butler, Life and Habit, London: Trübner & Co., page 1 - countableuncountableFineness or elegance of construction or appearance.
- countableuncountableRefinement in taste or discrimination.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething appealing, usually a pleasing food, especially a choice dish of a certain culture suggesting rarity and refinement.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance
Similar
Broader
nounsomething considered choice to eat
nounsubtly skillful handling of a situation
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindelicatus
- Middle Englishdelicat
- Middle Englishdelicacie
- Englishdelicacy
From Middle English delicacie, from Middle English delicat, from Latin delicatus. Equivalent to delic(ate) + -acy.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὄψον
- ὄψον (ópson)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
Bulgarian изтънченост, деликатност
- изтънченост (iztănčenost)quality of being delicate
- деликатност (delikatnost)quality of being delicate
- лакомство (lakomstvo)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- деликатес (delikates)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- изтънченост (iztănčenost)elegance of construction or appearance
- изтънченост (iztănčenost)refinement in taste
Catalan delicadesa
- delicadesaquality of being delicate
Chinese Mandarin 美味, 珍味
- 美味 (měiwèi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 珍味 (zhēnwèi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 美食 (měishí)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 珍饈 /珍馐 (zhēnxiū)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 佳餚 /佳肴 (jiāyáo)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 嘉殽 /嘉淆 (jiāyáo)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 佳肴 (jiāyáo)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
Czech lahůdka, delikatesa
- lahůdkasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- delikatesasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Danish sarthed, delikatesse
- sarthedquality of being delicate
- delikatessequality of being delicate
- delikatessesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- lækkerbiskensomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- skrøbelighedrefinement in taste
Dutch lekkernij, delicatesse
- lekkernijsomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- delicatessesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Esperanto frandaĵo
- frandaĵosomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Estonian õrnus
- õrnusquality of being delicate
Finnish herkullisuus, herkku
- herkullisuusquality of being delicate
- herkkusomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- hienostuneisuuselegance of construction or appearance
- hienostuneisuusrefinement in taste
French délicatesse, gourmandise
- délicatessequality of being delicate
- gourmandisesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
German Feinheit, Zartheit
- Feinheitquality of being delicate
- Zartheitquality of being delicate
- Empfindlichkeitquality of being delicate
- Zerbrechlichkeitquality of being delicate
- Delikatessesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- Leckerbissensomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- Köstlichkeitsomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- Delikatesserefinement in taste
Hebrew מַעֲדָן, מַטְעָם
- מַעֲדָן (ma'adan)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- מַטְעָם (mat'ám)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
Hindi कोमलता, सौम्यता
- कोमलता (komaltā)quality of being delicate
- सौम्यता (saumyatā)quality of being delicate
Irish íogaireacht, leiceacht
- íogaireachtquality of being delicate
- leiceachtquality of being delicate
Italian delicatezza, prelibatezza
- delicatezzaquality of being delicate
- prelibatezzasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- leccorniasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- squisitezzasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Japanese 珍味, 美味
- 珍味 (chinmi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 美味 (bimi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- デリカシー (derikashī)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
Korean 진미, 미미
- 진미 (jinmi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- 미미 (mimi)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
Latin scītāmentum, mattea
- scītāmentumsomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- matteasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- cuppēdiasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Latvian delikatese
- delikatesesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Māori horotai
- horotaisomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Norwegian Bokmål delikatesse
- delikatessesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Polish delikatność, finezja
- delikatnośćquality of being delicate
- finezjaquality of being delicate
- subtelnośćquality of being delicate
- delikatessomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- delicjesomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- przysmaksomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Portuguese delicadeza, iguaria
- delicadezaquality of being delicate
- iguariasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- guloseimasomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
- finezaelegance of construction or appearance
- refinamentorefinement in taste
- finezarefinement in taste
Russian делика́тность, утончённость
- делика́тность (delikátnostʹ)quality of being delicate
- утончённость (utončónnostʹ)quality of being delicate
- деликате́с (delikatɛ́s)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- ла́комство (lákomstvo)something appealing, especially a pleasing food
- утончённость (utončónnostʹ)elegance of construction or appearance
- утончённость (utončónnostʹ)refinement in taste
- изы́сканность (izýskannostʹ)refinement in taste
Spanish delicadeza, manjar
- delicadezaquality of being delicate
- manjarsomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Swedish delikatess, delikatess
- delikatessquality of being delicate
- delikatesssomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Vietnamese mỹ vị
- mỹ vịsomething appealing, especially a pleasing food
Cite this entry
APA
delicacy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delicacy
MLA
“delicacy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delicacy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “delicacy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/delicacy.
Source: delicacy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.