delicate

Words with a similar base: delicate

'delicate'

[delicate.a.01] as in: exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury

Examples:
a delicate violin passage
delicate china
a delicate flavor
the delicate wing of a butterfly

'delicate'

[delicate.s.01] as in: marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

Examples:
a surgeon's delicate touch

'delicate'

[delicate.s.02] as in: easily broken or damaged or destroyed

Examples:
a kite too delicate to fly safely
fragile porcelain plates
fragile old bones
a frail craft

'delicate'

[delicate.s.03] as in: easily hurt

Examples:
soft hands
a baby's delicate skin

'delicate'

[finespun.s.01] as in: developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

Examples:
the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense

'delicate'

[delicate.s.05] as in: difficult to handle; requiring great tact

Examples:
delicate negotiations with the big powers
hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter
a touchy subject

'delicate'

[delicate.s.06] as in: of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely

Examples:
almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments

Origins

					delicate (English)
└── delicat (Middle English (1100-1500))
    └── delicatus (Latin)
        └── deliciae (Latin)
            └── delicere (Latin)

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