4. 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. 5. 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. 6. The state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance.
7. 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. 3. 8. Pleasure; gratification; delight. [Obs.]
He Rome brent for his delicacie.
Chaucer. Syn. — See Dainty.
Delicate
(Del"i*cate) a. [L. delicatus pleasing the senses, voluptuous, soft and tender; akin to deliciae
delight: cf. F. délicat. See Delight.]
1. Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring. [R.]
Dives, for his delicate life, to the devil went.
Piers Plowman.
Haarlem is a very delicate town.
Evelyn. 2. Pleasing to the senses; refinedly agreeable; hence, adapted to please a nice or cultivated taste; nice; fine; elegant; as,
a delicate dish; delicate flavor.
3. Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful; as, "a delicate creature." Shak.
4. Fine or slender; minute; not coarse; — said of a thread, or the like; as, delicate cotton.
5. Slight or smooth; light and yielding; — said of texture; as, delicate lace or silk.
6. Soft and fair; — said of the skin or a surface; as, a delicate cheek; a delicate complexion.
7. Light, or softly tinted; — said of a color; as, a delicate blue.
8. Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; — said of manners, conduct, or feelings; as,
delicate behavior; delicate attentions; delicate thoughtfulness.
9. Tender; not able to endure hardship; feeble; frail; effeminate; — said of constitution, health, etc.; as, a
delicate child; delicate health.
A delicate and tender prince.
Shak. 10. Requiring careful handling; not to be rudely or hastily dealt with; nice; critical; as, a delicate subject or
question.
There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth.
F. W.
Robertson.
