delicacy
delicacy
/ˈdelɪkəsi/
(plural delicacies)
1 uncountable the fact of being, or appearing to be, easy to damage or break the delicacy of the fabric
Her skin had the delicacy of a flower.
The eggs of this bird are considered a great delicacy.
the exquisite delicacy of the embroidery
Collocations
adjective
2 uncountable the quality of being done carefully and gently the delicacy of his touch
These objects are very old and should be treated with great delicacy.
3 uncountable very careful behaviour in a difficult situation so that nobody is offended She handled the situation with great sensitivity and delicacy.
He handled the situation with extreme delicacy.
Collocations
adjective
extremegreatutmost…
preposition
with delicacy
phrases
a matter of (some) delicacy
4 uncountable the fact that a situation is difficult and somebody may be easily offended I need to talk to you about a matter of some delicacy.
5 countable a type of food considered to be very special in a particular place local delicacies
Dr Jaffrey handed us a plate of dates: traditionally the delicacy with which to break the Ramadan fast.
Word Origin
late Middle English (in the senses ‘voluptuousness’ and ‘luxuriousness’): from delicate + -acy. e.g.
We can make Citatap with the brain, but eating it whole is a delicacy. 脳みそも丸ごとチタタㇷ゚にするけどこれだけでもうまい珍味だ (/yupeco/『ゴールデンカムイ』5話)