Synonyms 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.

   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

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

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms: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"

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

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

2. delicateadjective

   marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

   "a surgeon's delicate touch"

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

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

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"

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

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

4. delicate, softadjective

   easily hurt

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

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

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

5. finespun, delicateadjective

   developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

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

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

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

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"

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

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

7. delicateadjective

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

   "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

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

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

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. improvise

   fast to break

   the vase is delicate

   Submitted by rinat on October 2, 2019  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   pleasant, pleasing, delicious, agreeable, savory, palatable

2. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   fine, nice, elegant, exquisite

3. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   tender, slender, weak

4. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   discriminating, careful, scrupulous, fastidious, dainty, of nice perception

5. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   refined, pure

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

1. delicateadjective

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

   Antonyms:
   indelicate

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "delicate":

   sensitive, fragile, subtle, tricky, thorny, difficult, awkward, precarious, minute, vulnerable

How to pronounce delicate?

How to say delicate in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use delicate in a sentence?

1. Lawrence Kobilinsky:

   It's a very dangerous chokehold, because you can damage the very delicate structures in the throat, ... There are a lot of things police can do to prevent something like this.

2. Henry David Thoreau:

   The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

3. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake:

   It's a very delicate balancing act, when we have to make sure that we're managing but not increasing and escalating the problem.

4. Bill Condon:

   It was such a delicate and beautifully told story and I have to say, too, secretly for 17 years I've been reading scripts constantly imagining that I could work with Ian McKellen and suddenly there is this script.

5. Charles Hendrickson Brower:

   A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow.