Antonyms for delicate
ˈdɛl ɪ kɪtdel·i·cate

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. delicateadjective

   Synonyms:
   fragile

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.5 / 2 votes

1. delicate

   Fine (Latin finis, end) denotes that which has been brought to a full end, finished. From this root-sense many derived meanings branch out, causing words quite remote from each other to be alike synonyms of fine. That which is truly finished, brought to an ideal end, is excellent of its kind, and beautiful, if a thing that admits of beauty; as, a fine house, fine trees, a fine woman, a fine morning; if a thing that admits of the removal of impurities, it is not finished till these are removed, and hence fine signifies clarified, clear, pure, refined; as, fine gold. 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. 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. Compare BEAUTIFUL; MINUTE.

   Antonyms:
   big, blunt, clumsy, coarse, great, heavy, huge, immense, large, rude, stout, thick

   Synonyms:
   beautiful, clarified, clear, comminuted, dainty, elegant, excellent, exquisite, fine, gauzy, handsome, keen, minute, nice, polished, pure, refined, sensitive, sharp, slender, slight, small, smooth, splendid, subtile, subtle, tenuous, thin

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:5.0 / 3 votes

1. delicateadjective

   exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury

   "a delicate violin passage"; "delicate china"; "a delicate flavor"; "the delicate wing of a butterfly"

   Antonyms:
   easy, unrefined, unbreakable, rugged, unskilled, toughened, knockabout, sturdy, insensitive, tough

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

2. delicateadjective

   marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique

   "a surgeon's delicate touch"

   Antonyms:
   insensitive, knockabout, sturdy, unskilled, toughened, unrefined, tough, rugged, unbreakable, easy

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

3. delicate, fragile, frailadjective

   easily broken or damaged or destroyed

   "a kite too delicate to fly safely"; "fragile porcelain plates"; "fragile old bones"; "a frail craft"

   Antonyms:
   unbreakable, tough, insensitive, rugged, unskilled, knockabout, unrefined, sturdy, easy, toughened

   Synonyms:
   slight, fallible, imperfect, tenuous, ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, thin, flimsy, weak, finespun

4. delicate, softadjective

   easily hurt

   "soft hands"; "a baby's delicate skin"

   Antonyms:
   tough, sturdy, unskilled, toughened, unbreakable, easy, knockabout, insensitive, unrefined, rugged

   Synonyms:
   cushy, indulgent, mild, easy, piano, balmy, lenient, voiced, easygoing, soft, diffused, frail, flabby, subdued, diffuse, sonant, flaccid, ticklish, gentle, finespun, touchy, fragile

5. finespun, delicateadjective

   developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety

   "the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense"

   Antonyms:
   unbreakable, tough, sturdy, unrefined, rugged, easy, unskilled, knockabout, toughened, insensitive

   Synonyms:
   ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, hairsplitting, finespun

6. delicate, ticklish, touchyadjective

   difficult to handle; requiring great tact

   "delicate negotiations with the big powers";"hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"; "a touchy subject"

   Antonyms:
   easy, toughened, unbreakable, insensitive, knockabout, sturdy, unskilled, rugged, tough, unrefined

   Synonyms:
   feisty, ticklish, soft, fragile, touchy, frail, huffy, thin-skinned, finespun

7. delicateadjective

   of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely

   "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

   Antonyms:
   unskilled, tough, toughened, rugged, knockabout, insensitive, unbreakable, unrefined, easy, sturdy

   Synonyms:
   fragile, finespun, touchy, frail, soft, ticklish

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. delicateadjective

   Antonyms:
   indelicate

   Synonyms:
   graceful, fine, exquisite, minute, slender, refined, sensitive, fastidious, dainty, critical, ticklish

How to use delicate in a sentence?

1. Bernd Meyring:

   Where digital content is geoblocked this can often be a result of national intellectual property rights. Assessing whether this is a genuine concern or a pretext to separate the internal market is a delicate exercise in each of these cases, given all the limitations of existing tools, legislation would be a far more appropriate tool to deal with the issue than trying to use an imperfect tool box.

2. Alicia Witt:

   The circumstances around my parents’ sudden passings have become fodder for press, and there are some misconceptions rolling around - understandably so, this is very delicate for me to write because i’m wanting to honor their privacy, which they held so tightly. there’s an awful irony in the fact that, because of the very lengths they went to in order to protect their privacy in life - that privacy has been stripped away in death.

3. Neel Raithatha:

   I had to be very delicate when peeling the dead infected skin off the ear canal and eardrum, he said. It usually takes half the time.

4. De Watteville:

   Right now we are in a situation that is both delicate and paradoxical.

5. Romola Garai:

   OK, I’ve had a female director say to me that the male actor is really challenged by aggressive women, so I have to be delicate with the way I speak to him, i said: ‘I can’t tell you how hard that will be for me. I am not that kind of person.’ There are hundreds of misogynistic directors, but an equal number who are not. It’s a mistake to make it a gender split. That’s not helped the cause.

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