delicately
in a gentle and careful way
In a gentle, careful way that avoids damage, pain, or disturbance.
in a polite, careful way about something sensitive
In a tactful, sensitive way that avoids offending or upsetting someone.
in a light or gentle way (taste, smell, colour)
In a way that is light, fine, or subtle in taste, smell, colour, or appearance.
in a graceful, gentle way
In a graceful, refined, or dainty way, especially in movement or expression.
in a way that can easily change or fail
In a way that is finely adjusted and easily upset, changed, or harmed.
- Base: delicately
- Plural: delicatelies
broach (something) delicately
1introduce a sensitive topic carefully
start talking about a difficult topic carefully
- She broached the subject of divorce delicately, waiting for his reaction.
- I tried to broach the issue delicately with my boss.
- The counselor broached the topic delicately to avoid overwhelming her.
- He broached the topic delicately.
- She broached it delicately with her parents.
delicately balanced
1unstable but kept in balance
balanced but easy to disturb
- The peace agreement is delicately balanced and could collapse at any moment.
- The budget is delicately balanced between new spending and tax rises.
- Her health is delicately balanced after the operation.
- Their relationship is delicately balanced.
- The plan is delicately balanced.
handle (something) delicately
1deal with something carefully
be very careful with something
- These files contain personal data, so handle them delicately.
- We need to handle the complaint delicately to keep the customer.
- Please handle the antique vase delicately.
- Handle the glass delicately.
- We must handle this problem delicately.
to put it delicately
1say something less harshly
used before a polite way of saying something negative
- To put it delicately, your report needs a lot more work.
- He’s not the easiest person to work with, to put it delicately.
- To put it delicately, the dinner didn’t go as planned.
- To put it delicately, I disagree.
- To put it delicately, it was a bad idea.
tread delicately
1act carefully in a situation
be careful because the situation is sensitive
- After the layoffs, managers had to tread delicately with the remaining staff.
- She knew she needed to tread delicately around the topic of money.
- The journalist tread delicately when asking about the scandal.
- I have to tread delicately with this issue.
- We should tread delicately around him today.