Search Result for "delicacy": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (7)

1. the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance;
- Example: "the daintiness of her touch"
- Example: "the fineness of her features"
[syn: daintiness, delicacy, fineness]

2. something considered choice to eat;
[syn: dainty, delicacy, goody, kickshaw, treat]

3. refined taste; tact;
[syn: delicacy, discretion]

4. smallness of stature;
[syn: delicacy, slightness]

5. lack of physical strength;
[syn: fragility, delicacy]

6. subtly skillful handling of a situation;
[syn: delicacy, diplomacy, discreetness, finesse]

7. lightness in movement or manner;
[syn: airiness, delicacy]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Delicacy \Del"i*ca*cy\, n.; pl. Delicacies. [From Delicate, a.] 1. The state or condition of being delicate; agreeableness to the senses; delightfulness; as, delicacy of flavor, of odor, and the like. [1913 Webster] What choice to choose for delicacy best. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Nicety or fineness of form, texture, or constitution; softness; elegance; smoothness; tenderness; and hence, frailty or weakness; as, the delicacy of a fiber or a thread; delicacy of a hand or of the human form; delicacy of the skin; delicacy of frame. [1913 Webster] 3. Nice propriety of manners or conduct; susceptibility or tenderness of feeling; refinement; fastidiousness; and hence, in an exaggerated sense, effeminacy; as, great delicacy of behavior; delicacy in doing a kindness; delicacy of character that unfits for earnest action. [1913 Webster] You know your mother's delicacy in this point. --Cowper. [1913 Webster] 4. Addiction to pleasure; luxury; daintiness; indulgence; luxurious or voluptuous treatment. [1913 Webster] And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent For gentle usage and soft delicacy? --Milton. [1913 Webster] 5. Nice and refined perception and discrimination; critical niceness; fastidious accuracy. [1913 Webster] That Augustan delicacy of taste which is the boast of the great public schools of England. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 6. The state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance. [1913 Webster] 7. That which is alluring, delicate, or refined; a luxury or pleasure; something pleasant to the senses, especially to the sense of taste; a dainty; as, delicacies of the table. [1913 Webster] The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. --Rev. xviii. 3. [1913 Webster] 8. Pleasure; gratification; delight. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] He Rome brent for his delicacie. --Chaucer. Syn: See Dainty. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

delicacy n 1: the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance; "the daintiness of her touch"; "the fineness of her features" [syn: daintiness, delicacy, fineness] 2: something considered choice to eat [syn: dainty, delicacy, goody, kickshaw, treat] 3: refined taste; tact [syn: delicacy, discretion] 4: smallness of stature [syn: delicacy, slightness] 5: lack of physical strength [syn: fragility, delicacy] 6: subtly skillful handling of a situation [syn: delicacy, diplomacy, discreetness, finesse] 7: lightness in movement or manner [syn: airiness, delicacy]