Delicious

How to spell delicious

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce delicious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delicious mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a very pleasant taste or smell; highly enjoyable to eat or drink.

Delicious in a sentence

• The soup she made for dinner was absolutely delicious.

• Fresh bread straight from the oven smells delicious.

Where does delicious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin deliciosus, meaning 'delightful' or 'giving great pleasure', which was built on the noun deliciae, a word for delights, luxuries, and sensual pleasures. That noun in turn traces back to the verb delicere, 'to allure or entice away', formed from the prefix de- ('away') and lacere ('to lure or ensnare'). English borrowed the word in the 1300s through Old French delicius, and at first it could describe any kind of pleasure, not just the taste of food; over time it narrowed toward the flavour of things we eat and drink. The same root that gave us delight and delicate sits behind it, which is a useful reminder that the soft 'sh' sound in the middle is actually spelled with a 'ci', not an 's' or 't'. The single 'l' and single 'c' are the other quiet traps, since the word feels heavier than its spelling actually is.

How the word is built

• delici- (from Latin deliciae: delight, pleasure)
• -ous (adjective suffix meaning 'full of')