delicacy

n.; pl. Delicacies [ From Delicate, a. ] 1. The state or condition of being delicate; agreeableness to the senses; delightfulness; as, delicacy of flavor, of odor, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

What choice to choose for delicacy best. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

You know your mother's delicacy in this point. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Addiction to pleasure; luxury; daintiness; indulgence; luxurious or voluptuous treatment. [ 1913 Webster ]

And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent
For gentle usage and soft delicacy? Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Nice and refined perception and discrimination; critical niceness; fastidious accuracy. [ 1913 Webster ]

That Augustan delicacy of taste which is the boast of the great public schools of England. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The state of being affected by slight causes; sensitiveness; as, the delicacy of a chemist's balance. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Rev. xviii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Pleasure; gratification; delight. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He Rome brent for his delicacie. Chaucer.

Syn. -- See Dainty. [ 1913 Webster ]