Delicate

How to spell delicate

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce delicate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delicate mean?

1. adjectiveEasily broken, damaged, or harmed, or made with fine, intricate care.

Delicate in a sentence

• The antique vase was too delicate to send by ordinary post.

• She wore a delicate silver chain that caught the light.

Where does delicate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin delicatus, an adjective meaning 'giving pleasure, alluring, dainty', which was closely tied to the noun deliciae, meaning 'delight' or 'pleasure'. The early Roman sense leaned toward something luxurious, soft, or pleasing to the senses, and over time it shifted to describe things that are finely made and therefore easily damaged. English took the word up in the late 1300s, drawing on both the Latin form and its passage through Old French, and the meaning soon split into the modern strands of 'fragile', 'subtly fine', and 'requiring tact'. The same delight-bearing root still survives in the everyday words 'delicious' and 'delight', which is a useful reminder that the middle of delicate keeps the soft 'i' it inherited rather than an 'a'. The common spelling slip is that unstressed second syllable, since 'delicate' is heard as 'del-i-kit' yet ends in the visible -ate of its Latin source.

How the word is built

• delic- (from Latin delicatus: giving pleasure, dainty)
• -ate (adjective suffix)