01 n. The state or condition of being delicate; agreeableness to the senses; delightfulness; as, delicacy of flavor, of odor, and the like.
pl.
Delicacies ((#))
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1.
The state or condition of being delicate; agreeableness to the senses; delightfulness; as, delicacy of flavor, of odor, and the like.“What choice to choose for delicacy best.” — Milton.
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2.
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.
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3.
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.
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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.
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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.
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6.
The state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance.
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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.
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8.
Pleasure; gratification; delight.[Obs.]“He Rome brent for his delicacie.” — Chaucer.
Syn.
See Dainty.