1. [Adjective]: exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury; "a delicate violin passage"; "delicate china"; "a delicate flavor"; "the delicate wing of a butterfly"

2. marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique; "a surgeon''s delicate touch"

3. difficult to handle; requiring great tact; "delicate negotiations with the big powers"; "hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"

4. of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely; "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"

5. easily hurt; "soft hands"; "a baby''s delicate skin"

6. easily broken or damaged or destroyed; "a kite too delicate to fly safely"; "fragile porcelain plates"; "fragile old bones"; "a frail craft"

7. developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety; "the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense"

1. dainty

2. exquisite

3. ethereal

4. gossamer

5. fragile

6. half-hardy

7. light-handed

8. overdelicate

9. pastel

10. subtle

11. tender

12. breakable

13. difficult

14. hard

15. refined

16. sensitive

17. skilled

18. tender

19. untoughened

1. rugged