Meanings
plural Turkish delights
- uncountableusuallyA soft, sticky confection made from starch and sugar with various flavourings.
Bunter thanked him gravely for his good opinion, and proffered a box of that equally nauseating mess called Turkish Delight, which not only gluts the palate and glues the teeth, but also smothers the consumer in a floury cloud of white sugar.
1930, Dorothy Sayers, Strong PoisonSynonyms: locoum, loukoumi, lumps of delight
- UKuncountableusuallyA sweet consisting of rose jelly coated in chocolate.
We don't really have Turkish Delight in North America, so please forgive my original belief that Turkish Delight was a gelatine-filled perfumed jelly enrobed in chocolate.
[2013 May 9, Mellissa Morgan, Ms Cupcake: Discover indulgent vegan bakes, Random House, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA soft, sticky confection made from starch and sugar with various flavourings.
Origin
Allegedly coined by an English traveller who could not pronounce the Ottoman Turkish name راحت الحلقوم (râhatü'l-hulkûm), 18th c.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رَاحَة الْحُلْقُوم
- رَاحَة الْحُلْقُوم (rāḥat al-ḥulqūm)confection
Bulgarian локу́м
- локу́м (lokúm)confection
Catalan delícies turques
- delícies turquesconfection
Chinese Mandarin 土耳其软糖, 土耳其快樂糖 /土耳其快乐糖
- 土耳其软糖 (Tǔ'ěrqí ruǎntáng)confection
- 土耳其快樂糖 /土耳其快乐糖 (Tǔ'ěrqí kuàilètáng)confection
Czech turecký med, rahat
- turecký medconfection
- rahatconfection
- lokumconfection
- turecké potěšeníconfection
Danish turkish delight, tyrkisk delight
- turkish delightconfection
- tyrkisk delightconfection
Dutch Turks fruit
- Turks fruitconfection
Esperanto lukumo
- lukumoconfection
Finnish lokum
- lokumconfection
French loukoum, rahat-loukoum
- loukoumconfection
- rahat-loukoumconfection
German Lokum
- Lokumconfection
Greek λουκούμι
- λουκούμι (loukoúmi)confection
Hebrew רַחַת לוֹקוּם
- רַחַת לוֹקוּם (rákhat lókum)confection
Hindi टर्किश डिलाइट, लोकुम
- टर्किश डिलाइट (ṭarkiś ḍilāiṭ)confection
- लोकुम (lokum)confection
Hungarian szultánkenyér, török csemege
- szultánkenyérconfection
- török csemegeconfection
- lokumconfection
Italian lokum
- lokumconfection
Japanese ロクム, ターキッシュ・ディライト
- ロクム (rokumu)confection
- ターキッシュ・ディライト (tākisshu-diraito)confection
Korean 로쿰, 터키시 딜라이트
- 로쿰 (rokum)confection
- 터키시 딜라이트 (teokisi dillaiteu)confection
Latin lucumium
- lucumiumconfection
Latvian lokums
- lokumsconfection
Lithuanian lukumas
- lukumasconfection
Malay halwa maskat
- halwa maskatconfection
Norwegian Bokmål lokum, Turkish delight
- lokumconfection
- Turkish delightconfection
Polish rachatłukum
- rachatłukumconfection
Portuguese manjar turco, delícia turca
- manjar turcoconfection
- delícia turcaconfection
Romanian rahat, rahat turcesc
- rahatconfection
- rahat turcescconfection
- rahatlocumconfection
Russian рахат-луку́м, луку́м
- рахат-луку́м (raxat-lukúm)confection
- луку́м (lukúm)confection
Slovak lokum, rahat
- lokumconfection
- rahatconfection
Spanish lokum, delicias turcas
- lokumconfection
- delicias turcasconfection
Swedish marmeladkonfekt, rahat lokum
- marmeladkonfektconfection
- rahat lokumconfection
Turkish lokum, rahat-lokum
- lokumconfection
- rahat-lokumconfection
Ukrainian раха́т-луку́м, луку́м
- раха́т-луку́м (raxát-lukúm)confection
- луку́м (lukúm)confection
Urdu رَاحَتُ ٱلْحُلْقُوم, لُکُوم
- رَاحَتُ ٱلْحُلْقُوم (rāhatu l-hulqūm)confection
- لُکُوم (lukūm)confection
Vietnamese như rahat-loukoum
- như rahat-loukoumconfection
Cite this entry
Turkish delight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turkish%20delight
“Turkish delight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turkish%20delight. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Turkish delight,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Turkish%20delight.
Source: Turkish delight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.