exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing; susceptible to injury; "a delicate violin passage"; "delicate china"; "a delicate flavor"; "the delicate wing of a butterfly"
easily broken or damaged or destroyed; "a kite too delicate to fly safely"; "fragile porcelain plates"; "fragile old bones"; "a frail craft"
difficult to handle; requiring great tact; "delicate negotiations with the big powers";"hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"; "a touchy subject"
of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely; "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"
marked by great skill especially in meticulous technique; "a surgeon's delicate touch"
easily hurt; "soft hands"; "a baby's delicate skin"
delicately beautiful; "a dainty teacup"; "an exquisite cameo"
excessively fastidious and easily disgusted; "too nice about his food to take to camp cooking"; "so squeamish he would only touch the toilet handle with his elbow"
affectedly dainty or refined
especially pleasing to the taste; "a dainty dish to set before a kind"; "a tasty morsel"
the act of depriving of food or subjecting to famine; "the besiegers used starvation to induce surrender"; "they were charged with the starvation of children in their care"
a state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period