Delicate, a.
Etymology: [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; 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.
9 more senses
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; 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.
11. Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
12. Nicely discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite; as, a delicate taste; a delicate ear for music.
13. Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes; as, a delicate thermometer.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Delicate, n.
1. A choice dainty; a delicacy. [R.] With abstinence all delicates he sees. Dryden.
2. A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person. All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, -- those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbors, -- are only of the Corinth metal. Holland.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for delicate; he lists it under fine, tasteful.
Where he writes about it:
That which is finished is apt to be polished, smooth to the touch, minutely exact in outline; hence fine comes to be a synonym for all words like dainty, delicate, exquisite; as, fine manners, a fine touch, fine perceptions. — from fine
As that which is delicate is apt to be small, by an easy extension of meaning fine becomes a synonym for slender, slight, minute, comminuted; as, a fine thread, fine sand; or for filmy, tenuous, thin; as, a fine lace, fine wire; and as a thin edge is keen, sharp, fine becomes also a synonym for these words; as, a fine point, a fine edge. — from fine
Dainty and delicate refer to the lighter and finer elements of taste and beauty, dainty tending in personal use to an excessive scrupulousness which is more fully expressed by fastidious. — from tasteful
Nice and delicate both refer to exact adaptation to some standard; the bar of a balance can be said to be nicely or delicately poised; as regards matters of taste and beauty, delicate is a higher and more discriminating word than nice, and is always used in a favorable sense; a delicate distinction is one worth observing; a nice distinction may be so, or may be overstrained and unduly subtle; fine in such use, is closely similar to delicate and nice, but (tho capable of an unfavorable sense) has commonly a suggestion of positive excellence or admirableness; a fine touch does something; fine perceptions are to some purpose; delicate is capable of the single unfavorable sense of frail or fragile; as, a delicate constitution. — from tasteful