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Flimsy vs Delicate - What's the difference?

flimsy | delicate |

As adjectives the difference between flimsy and delicate

is that flimsy is likely to bend or break under pressure; weak, shaky, flexible, or fragile while delicate is easily damaged or requiring careful handling.

As nouns the difference between flimsy and delicate

is that flimsy is thin typing paper used to make multiple copies while delicate is a delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.

flimsy

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Likely to bend or break under pressure; weak, shaky, flexible, or fragile.
    • He expected the flimsy structure to collapse at any moment.
  • * Sheridan
    • All the flimsy furniture of a country miss's brain.

    Antonyms

    * robust * strong * sturdy

    Noun

    (flimsies)
  • Thin typing paper used to make multiple copies.
  • *1977 , , The Honourable Schoolboy , Folio Society 2010, p. 251:
  • *:Smiley peered once more at the flimsy which he still clutched in his pudgy hand.
  • (informal, in the plural) Skimpy underwear.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=October 25, author=Ruth La Ferla, title=Now It’s Nobody’s Secret, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Choosing lingerie “is about what makes you look good, but also what looks good with or through your clothing,” said Monica Mitro, a spokeswoman for Victoria’s Secret, the brand that catapulted racy flimsies into the public eye. }}

    delicate

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
    • Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
    The negotiations were very delicate .
  • * F. W. Robertson
    • There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 23 , author=Angelique Chrisafis , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=The final vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up.}}
  • Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
    • Her face was delicate .
    The spider wove a delicate web.
    There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
  • Intended for use with fragile items.
    • Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
  • Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
    • delicate''' behaviour; '''delicate''' attentions; '''delicate thoughtfulness
  • Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
    • a delicate''' child; '''delicate health
  • * Shakespeare
    • a delicate and tender prince
  • (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
    • Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
  • (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
  • * 1360–1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman) (C-text), passus IX, line 285:
    • Þenk þat diues for hus delicat lyf to þe deuel wente.
  • * circa'' 1660 , (John Evelyn) (author), , volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:
    • Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.
  • Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
    • a delicate''' dish; '''delicate flavour
  • Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
  • * circa'' 1603 , (William Shakespeare), ''(Othello) , act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
    • :   She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
  • Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
    • a delicate shade of blue
  • Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
  • Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
    • a delicate''' taste; a '''delicate ear for music
  • Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.
    • a delicate thermometer

    Related terms

    * delicacy * delicately * delicatessen * delicious * delight

    Synonyms

    * (easily damaged) fragile

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
    • Don't put that in with your jeans: it's a delicate !
  • (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
    • With abstinence all delicates he sees. — Dryden.
  • (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
    • All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, — those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbours, — are only of the Corinth metal. — Holland.

    External links

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