delicate

• "susceptible to injury"
• "a delicate violin passage"
• "delicate china"
• "a delicate flavor"
• "the delicate wing of a butterfly"

• "a surgeon's delicate touch"

• "a kite too delicate to fly safely"
• "fragile porcelain plates"
• "fragile old bones"
• "a frail craft"

Synonyms

• fragileeasily broken or damaged or destroyed; vulnerably delicate; lacking substance or significance
• frailthe weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; a basket for holding dried fruit (especially raisins or figs) ; physically weak; wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; easily broken or damaged or destroyed

• "soft hands"
• "a baby's delicate skin"

Synonyms

• softin a relaxed manner; yielding readily to pressure or weight ; compassionate and kind; (of sound) relatively low in volume; easily hurt; produced with vibration of the vocal cords; not protected against attack (especially by nuclear weapons); (used chiefly as a direction or description in music) soft; (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected ; (of speech sounds); (of a commodity or market or currency) falling or likely to fall in value; using evidence not readily amenable to experimental verification or refutation; tolerant or lenient; soft and mild; having little impact; out of condition; willing to negotiate and compromise ; not burdensome or demanding; mild and pleasant; not brilliant or glaring

• "the satire touches with finespun ridicule every kind of human pretense"

Synonyms

• finespundeveloped with extreme delicacy and subtlety; developed in excessively fine detail

• "requiring great tact"
• "delicate negotiations with the big powers"
• "hesitates to be explicit on so ticklish a matter"
• "a touchy subject"

Synonyms

• ticklishdifficult to handle
• touchyquick to take offense ; difficult to handle

• "capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely"
• "almost undetectable with even the most delicate instruments"