Antonyms for delicate
ˈdɛl ɪ kɪtdel·i·cate

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   fragile

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.5 / 2 votes

1. delicate

   Fine (Latin finis, end) denotes that which has been brought to a full end, finished. From this root-sense many derived meanings branch out, causing words quite remote from each other to be alike synonyms of fine. That which is truly finished, brought to an ideal end, is excellent of its kind, and beautiful, if a thing that admits of beauty; as, a fine house, fine trees, a fine woman, a fine morning; if a thing that admits of the removal of impurities, it is not finished till these are removed, and hence fine signifies clarified, clear, pure, refined; as, fine gold. That which is finished is apt to be polished, smooth to the touch, minutely exact in outline; hence fine comes to be a synonym for all words like dainty, delicate, exquisite; as, fine manners, a fine touch, fine perceptions. As that which is delicate is apt to be small, by an easy extension of meaning fine becomes a synonym for slender, slight, minute, comminuted; as, a fine thread, fine sand; or for filmy, tenuous, thin; as, a fine lace, fine wire; and as a thin edge is keen, sharp, fine becomes also a synonym for these words; as, a fine point, a fine edge. Compare BEAUTIFUL; MINUTE.

   Antonyms:
   big, blunt, clumsy, coarse, great, heavy, huge, immense, large, rude, stout, thick

   Synonyms:
   beautiful, clarified, clear, comminuted, dainty, elegant, excellent, exquisite, fine, gauzy, handsome, keen, minute, nice, polished, pure, refined, sensitive, sharp, slender, slight, small, smooth, splendid, subtile, subtle, tenuous, thin

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:5.0 / 3 votes

1. delicateadjective

   exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury

   "a delicate violin passage"; "delicate china"; "a delicate flavor"; "the delicate wing of a butterfly"

   Antonyms:
   easy, unrefined, unbreakable, rugged, unskilled, toughened, knockabout, sturdy, insensitive, tough

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

2. delicateadjective

   marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

   "a surgeon's delicate touch"

   Antonyms:
   insensitive, knockabout, sturdy, unskilled, toughened, unrefined, tough, rugged, unbreakable, easy

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

3. delicate, fragile, frailadjective

   easily broken or damaged or destroyed

   "a kite too delicate to fly safely"; "fragile porcelain plates"; "fragile old bones"; "a frail craft"

   Antonyms:
   unbreakable, tough, insensitive, rugged, unskilled, knockabout, unrefined, sturdy, easy, toughened

   Synonyms:
   slight, fallible, imperfect, tenuous, ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, thin, flimsy, weak, finespun

4. delicate, softadjective

   easily hurt

   "soft hands"; "a baby's delicate skin"

   Antonyms:
   tough, sturdy, unskilled, toughened, unbreakable, easy, knockabout, insensitive, unrefined, rugged

   Synonyms:
   cushy, indulgent, mild, easy, piano, balmy, lenient, voiced, easygoing, soft, diffused, frail, flabby, subdued, diffuse, sonant, flaccid, ticklish, gentle, finespun, touchy, fragile

5. finespun, delicateadjective

   developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

   "the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense"

   Antonyms:
   unbreakable, tough, sturdy, unrefined, rugged, easy, unskilled, knockabout, toughened, insensitive

   Synonyms:
   ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, hairsplitting, finespun

6. delicate, ticklish, touchyadjective

   difficult to handle; requiring great tact

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

   Antonyms:
   easy, toughened, unbreakable, insensitive, knockabout, sturdy, unskilled, rugged, tough, unrefined

   Synonyms:
   feisty, ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, huffy, thin-skinned, finespun

7. delicateadjective

   of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely

   "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

   Antonyms:
   unskilled, tough, toughened, rugged, knockabout, insensitive, unbreakable, unrefined, easy, sturdy

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. delicateadjective

   Antonyms:
   indelicate

   Synonyms:
   graceful, fine, exquisite, minute, slender, refined, sensitive, fastidious, dainty, critical, ticklish

How to use delicate in a sentence?

1. Miquel Ros:

   It prompted many airlines that were in a delicate financial situation to give up, most of those that failed in 2020 were likely to have gone out of business anyway, just a bit later. Many were either airlines that had had issues for quite some time, or fragile ventures that lacked the scale and scope to compete with large operators.

2. Winslow Wheeler:

   [The F-16 is] too fast, too delicate and it can’t loiter around enough to provide support.

3. Andrew Hsu:

   It’s a problem we’ve been wrestling with for 20 years now, it’s a very delicate balance. We spend a lot of time essentially trying to determine whether a user has touched the surface or not.

4. David Gortler:

   Going back to my Yale days when I was a lowly fellow inside of a molecular biology lab, I had to work with RNA myself, he tells NPR. And RNA is something which is very, very delicate and it can be inactivated, just like — we used to joke — just by looking at it the wrong way.

5. George Kyritsis:

   It is possible... We are interested in two things. Sticking to the deal and maintaining the rights (of migrants and refugees) ... It is a delicate and complicated process, we don't want to make mistakes.

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