different between delicate vs rarefied
delicate
English
Etymology
From Middle English delicat, from Latin delicatus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, in Medieval Latin also fine, slender”), from delicia, usually in plural deliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from delicere (“to allure”), from de (“away”) + lacere (“to allure, entice”). Compare Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?d?l?k?t/
Adjective
delicate (comparative more delicate, superlative most delicate)
- Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
- Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
- Intended for use with fragile items.
- Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
- Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
- (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
- Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
- (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
- circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:
- Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.
- circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:
- Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
- Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
- circa 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
- Cassio: She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
- circa 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
- Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
- Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
- Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
- Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.
Synonyms
- (easily damaged): fragile
Related terms
- delicacy
- delicately
- delicatessen
- delicious
- delight
Translations
Noun
delicate (plural delicates)
- A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
- (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
- (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
Further reading
- delicate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- delicate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /de.li?ka.te/
Adjective
delicate
- feminine plural of delicato
Anagrams
- dateceli
Latin
Adjective
d?lic?te
- vocative masculine singular of d?lic?tus
References
- delicate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- delicate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- delicate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /deli?kate/
Adjective
delicate
- feminine plural nominative of delicat
- feminine plural accusative of delicat
- neuter plural nominative of delicat
- neuter plural accusative of delicat
delicate From the web:
- what delicate mean
- what's delicate wash
- what's delicates on dryer
- delicatessen meaning
- what delicate food meaning
- what delicatessen stands for
- what's delicate flower meaning
- what delicate person means
rarefied
English
Alternative forms
- rarified
Adjective
rarefied (comparative more rarefied, superlative most rarefied)
- Distant from the lives and everyday concerns of ordinary people; esoteric, exclusive, select.
- Philosophical debates can be quite rarefied.
- Elevated in style or nature, sublime; of high intellectual or moral value.
- (of a gas etc.) Less dense than usual; thin.
- The air at high altitudes at the top of mountains is rarefied.
Translations
Verb
rarefied
- simple past tense and past participle of rarefy
rarefied From the web:
- rarefied meaning
- what's rarefied gas
- what's rarefied air
- rarefied what does it mean
- what is rarefied flow
- what does rarefied mean in science
- what does rarefied
- what do rarefied mean
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