delicate – English adjective declension

English adjective forms of delicate

Adjective: delicate

Comparison Forms

Synthetic

Comparativedelicater
Superlativedelicatest

Perifrastic

Comparativemore delicate
Superlativemost delicate

Sample Sentences

  • Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
  • The negotiations were very delicate.
  • There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth. [1850 April 18, Frederik W. Robertson, An Address Delivered to the Members of the Working Man's Institute, page 5:]
  • Indeed, the frosty god conspired with it for our delight; building crystal bridges, with tracery of lace delicater than Valenciennes, and spangled string-pieces, and fretted vaultings, whimsical sierras, stalactite and stalagmite. [1903, Julian Hawthorne, chapter II, in Hawthorne and His Circle, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 28:]
  • The final vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up. [2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in the Guardian:]
  • Her face was delicate.
  • The spider wove a delicate web.
  • There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
  • You crush a delicate moth wing
  • I see the stain on your fingertips [2021, “Silk in the Strings”, performed by Spiritbox:]
  • Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
  • delicate behaviour
  • delicate attentions
  • delicate thoughtfulness
  • Jill had, as you might say quite fallen in love with the Unicorn. She thought—and she wasn’t far wrong—that he was the shiningest, delicatest, most graceful animal she had ever met: and he was so gentle and soft of speech that, if you hadn’t known, you would hardly have believed how fierce and terrible he could be in battle. [1956, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, “What News the Eagle Brought”, in The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia; 7), New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 82–83:]
  • a delicate child
  • delicate health
  • [E]xamples groſſe as earth exhort me, / Witnes this Army of ſuch maſſe and charge, / Led by a delicate and tender Prince, / Whoſe ſpirit with diuine ambition puft, / Makes mouthes at the inviſible euent, / Expoſing what is mortall, and vnſure, / To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, / Euen for an Egge-ſhell. [c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], signature K3, verso:]
  • Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
  • This [Haarlem] is a very delicate towne, and hath one of the fairest Churches, of the Gotiq design, I had seene. [1641 August 28 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 19 August 1641]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 17:]
  • a delicate dish
  • delicate flavour
  • [A]mong Chꝛiſten men there haue been now a greate whyle not a fewe, whych haue thought that it is a true faſte, if vpon certaine dayes they abſtayne only from the fleſhe of fowle, and foure footed beaſtes, thoughe in the meane ceaſon they dilitiouſly fede them ſelues with the fleſhe of fiſthes, and other meates much coſtlier, and delicater, than the commune vſe of fleſhe is. [1547 November 9 (Gregorian calendar), Herman [of Wied], anonymous translator, “Of Difference of Meates”, in A Simple, and Religious Consultation of Vs […], [London]: […] I[ohn] D[ay], →OCLC, signature [Ll.vij.], verso:]
  • The Fleſh of man, becauſe its Nouriſhed by purer Blood, is delicater than the fleſh of other Creatures, and prefered before it by Canibals, or Man-Eaters. [1665, Johannes Riolanus, translated by Nich[olas] Culpeper, “The Division of Mans Body”, in A Sure Guide or, The Best and Nearest Way to Physick and Chirurgery: […] (The Physitian’s Library), London: […] Peter Cole […], →OCLC, page 31:]
  • They would give up ideas of gentle living, of soft raiment, and delicate feeding. [1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “Mr. Crawley of Hogglestock”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, page 213:]
  • Caſ[ſio]. She is a moſt exquiſite Lady. […] Indeede ſhe is a moſt freſh and delicate creature. [c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 30, lines 18 and 20–21:]
  • a delicate shade of blue
  • a delicate taste
  • a delicate ear for music
  • a delicate thermometer

Adjectives inflected like delicate

serene, severe, secure, sedate, wheelie, simple, complete, fulsome, sprightlie, discrete, plosive, bizarre, brusque, brittle, wholesome, sincere, shystie, loveable, prophane, terrible, etc. (List truncated at 20 adjectives)

Etymology

From Middle English delicat, from Latin dēlicātus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, (in Medieval Latin also) fine, slender”), from dēlicia + -ātus (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), usually in plural dēliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from dēliciō (“to allure, entice”), from dē- (“away”) + laciō (“to lure, to deceive”), from Proto-Italic *lakjō (“to draw, pull”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare delight, delicious and Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”). The noun is from a substantivization of the adjective (see -ate). See: Latin Adjectives 'dēlicātus', Spanish Adjectives 'delgado'.

Verbs referencing "delicate"

Spanish Adjectives delgado, Finnish Adjectives delikaatti.