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Delicate vs Sweet - What's the difference?

delicate | sweet |

In informal terms the difference between delicate and sweet

is that delicate is unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol while sweet is very pleasing; agreeable.

In obsolete terms the difference between delicate and sweet

is that delicate is a delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person while sweet is that which is pleasing or welcome to the mind.

As adjectives the difference between delicate and sweet

is that delicate is easily damaged or requiring careful handling while sweet is having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As nouns the difference between delicate and sweet

is that delicate is a delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie while sweet is the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As an adverb sweet is

in a sweet manner.

As a proper noun Sweet is

{{surname|lang=en}.

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

    * * ----

    sweet

    English

    (wikipedia sweet)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
    • a sweet apple
  • Having a taste of sugar.
  • Containing a sweetening ingredient.
  • (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.
    • Sweet wines are better dessert wines.
  • Not having a salty taste.
    • sweet butter
  • * 1821 , Robert Thomas, The modern practice of physic
    • Nothing has been found so effectual for preserving water sweet at sea, during long voyages, as charring the insides of the casks well before they are filled.
  • Having a pleasant smell.
    • a sweet scent
  • * Longfellow
    • The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
  • Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.
    • sweet milk
  • Having a pleasant sound.
    • a sweet tune
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
    • a voice sweet , tremulous, but powerful
  • Having a pleasing disposition.
    • a sweet child
  • Having a helpful disposition.
    • It was sweet of him to help out.
  • (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.
    • sweet soil
    sweet crude oil
  • (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
    • The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2014
    • , date=November 14 , author=Stephen Halliday , title=Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=GORDON Strachan enjoyed the sweetest of his 16 matches in charge of Scotland so far as his team enhanced their prospects of Euro 2016 qualification with a crucial and deserved victory over Republic of Ireland.}}
  • (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamored (followed by with), fond (followed by of).
    • The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.
  • (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.
    • sweet water
    (Francis Bacon)
  • Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
    • a sweet''' face; a '''sweet colour or complexion
  • * Milton
    • Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

    Synonyms

    * (having a taste of sugar) saccharine, sugary * (containing a sweetening ingredient) sugared, sweetened * (not having a salty taste) fresh, unsalty * (having a pleasant smell) fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling * fresh, unfermented, wholesome * (having a pleasant sound) dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant * (having a pleasing disposition) cute, lovable, pleasant * (having a helpful disposition) kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful * rad, awesome, wicked

    Antonyms

    * (having a pleasant taste) bitter, sour, salty * (containing a sweetening ingredient) nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet * dry * decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale * (not having a salty taste) salty, savoury * (free from excessive unwanted substances) sour * lame, uncool

    Derived terms

    * bittersweet * boiled sweet * flower-sweet * honey-sweet * meadowsweet * semisweet * short and sweet * sickeningly sweet * sickly sweet/sickly-sweet * sugar-sweet * sweet action * (sweet alison) * (sweet almond) * (sweet alyssum) * sweet and sour * sweet as * sweet as a nut * sweet as pie * sweet ball * (sweet balm) * sweet basil * sweet bay * (sweet bells) * sweet birch * sweet bread * sweetbread * sweet-breasted * (sweetbriar) * (sweet calabash) * (sweet cassava) * sweet cheeks * sweet cherry * sweet chocolate * (sweet cicely) * sweet cider * (sweet clover) * (sweet coltsfoot) * sweet corn/sweet-corn/sweetcorn * sweet cream * sweet cup * sweet dreams * (sweet elder) * sweeten * sweetener * sweet FA * (sweet fern) * sweet flag * (vern, sweet four o'clock) * sweet gale * (sweet goldenrod) * sweet grass * sweet gum tree * sweet hereafter * sweet iron * sweetish * sweetkin * sweet leaf * sweet lemon * (sweet lime) * sweetly * (sweet marjoram) * sweet Mary * sweetmeat * (sweet melon) * sweetness * sweet nothings * sweet oil * sweet on * sweet orange * sweet pea * sweet pepper * sweet pickle * sweet potato * (sweet rocket) * sweet roll * sweetroot * sweets * sweet scabious * sweet science * (sweet shrub) * sweet sixteen * Sweet Sixteen * sweet-smelling * sweet-sop * (sweet sorghum) * sweet spot * (sweet sultan) * sweet-talk * sweet talker * sweet tooth * (sweet unicorn plant) * sweet vermouth * (sweet vetch) * (sweet violet) * sweet water * (sweet wattle) * sweet william/Sweet William * sweet woodruff * sweety * sweet young thing * unsweet * (winter sweet)

    Usage notes

    * Also used as a positive response to good news or information: They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet !

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a sweet manner.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (in a sweet manner) sweetly

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
  • (countable, British) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
  • (countable, British) A food eaten for dessert.
    • Can we see the sweet menu, please?
  • sweetheart; darling
  • * Ben Jonson
    • Wherefore frowns my sweet ?
  • (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
  • * Milton
    • a wilderness of sweets
  • (obsolete) That which is pleasing or welcome to the mind.
    • the sweets of domestic life

    Synonyms

    * (sweet taste sensation) See sweetness * (food that is high in sugar content) bonbon, candy (US), confection, confectionery, lolly (Australia) * (food eaten for dessert) See dessert

    Derived terms

    * sweet shop * sweetshop

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words