delicacy

Definitions

1. 1.Nicety or fineness of form, texture, or constitution; softness; elegance; smoothness; tenderness; and hence, frailty or weakness; as, the delicacy of a fiber or a thread; delicacy of a hand or of the human form; delicacy of the skin; delicacy of frame.
2. 2.Nice propriety of manners or conduct; susceptibility or tenderness of feeling; refinement; fastidiousness; and hence, in an exaggerated sense, effeminacy; as, great delicacy of behavior; delicacy in doing a kindness; delicacy of character that unfits for earnest action. You know your mother's delicacy in this point. Cowper.
3. 3.Addiction to pleasure; luxury; daintiness; indulgence; luxurious or voluptuous treatment. And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent For gentle usage and soft delicacy Milton.
4. 4.Nice and refined perception and discrimination; critical niceness; fastidious accuracy. That Augustan delicacy of taste which is the boast of the great public schools of England. Macaulay.
5. 5.The state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance.
6. 6.That which is alluring, delicate, or refined; a luxury or pleasure; something pleasant to the senses, especially to the sense of taste; a dainty; as, delicacies of the table. The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Rev. xviii.
7. 7.8. Pleasure; gratification; delight. [Obs.] He Rome brent for his delicacie. Chaucer.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "delicacy" mean?
• What is another word for "delicacy"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is delicacy.

• What is addiction to pleasure; luxury; daintiness; indulgence; luxurious or voluptuous treatment. And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent For gentle usage and soft delicacy Milton called?
• What is nice and refined perception and discrimination; critical niceness; fastidious accuracy. That Augustan delicacy of taste which is the boast of the great public schools of England. Macaulay called?
• What is the state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance called?
• What is 8. Pleasure; gratification; delight. [Obs.] He Rome brent for his delicacie. Chaucer called?