delicately

[del-i-kit-lee]

adverb

1. in a careful way.

   They stepped delicately among the brambles and exposed rocks.

   Aggressive removal of the tumor must be delicately balanced with the risk of injury to adjacent normal tissue.

2. in a tactful or sensitive way.

   Employee issues need to be managed delicately, with empathy and an open perspective.

3. in a faint, subtle, quiet, or barely perceptible way.

   Dessert was perfection: perfectly moist and delicately flavored ricotta and rhubarb cakes with a big dollop of creamy vanilla mascarpone.

   The eye-catching Himalayan honeysuckle has pendant spikes of deep red bracts with white, delicately scented flowers and red-purple berries.

4. showing or using precision or refinement.

   The region is a famous center for embroidery and appliqué work, painted pottery, and delicately carved wooden doors.

Other Word Forms

• hyperdelicately adverb
• nondelicately adverb
• quasi-delicately adverb
• superdelicately adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of delicately¹

delicate ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

The main course, a whole fried sea bream, served with a ginger fish sauce caramel, peanuts, herbs, lemon, and wild pepper leaves to delicately wrap each fried morsel, truly blew me away.

From Salon

Her living spaces were delicately curated, with indigenous artifacts, rocks and leaves she would pick up on her walks and vintage wind-up toys.

From Los Angeles Times

Using the tip of a sharpened pencil, I delicately push the minute hand of the watch around in a circle, though the hour hand is unmovable, permanently pointing at 11 o’clock.

From Los Angeles Times

He's equally pleased with having delicately explored "perhaps the most sensitive relationship that is present in the natural world" - that between a parent and their young.

From BBC

Em was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, so her family has treated her delicately her entire life.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• beautifully 
• cautiously 
• deftly 
• elegantly www.thesaurus.com
• exquisitely 
• finely 
• gracefully 
• lightly 
• sensitively www.thesaurus.com
• skillfully www.thesaurus.com
• softly 
• subtly 
• tactfully www.thesaurus.com