indelicate

See also: indélicate

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ delicate.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Adjective

indelicate (comparative more indelicate, superlative most indelicate)

1. Improper or immodest.
   • 2023 July 14, Wikipedia contributors, “Funk”, in English Wikipedia‎, Wikimedia Foundation:

     As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of jazz music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company.

2. Coarse or tasteless.
3. Tactless or undiplomatic.
   • 1980 December 13, Mitzel, “Dale Barbre's Murder Transformed”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 21, page 12:

     Schuetz acknowledges that he knew about the Dale Barbre murder investigation as it was reported in GCN. Yet the Barbre murder saga provided only the skeleton — if I may be forgiven the indelicate word choice — for the story they concoct.

Derived terms

• indelicately
• indelicateness

Translations

Tactless or undiplomatic

Bulgarian: нетактичен (bg) (netaktičen) Esperanto: triviala Hungarian: tapintatlan (hu) Macedonian: нета́ктичен (netáktičen)

Italian

Adjective

indelicate

1. feminine plural of indelicato

Anagrams

• decliniate