delicatessen
Americannoun
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a store selling foods already prepared or requiring little preparation for serving, as cooked meats, cheese, salads, and the like.
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Informal. the food products sold in such a store or at a counter.
We're having delicatessen for dinner.
noun
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a shop selling various foods, esp unusual or imported foods, already cooked or prepared
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such foods
Etymology
Origin of delicatessen
1885–90, < German, plural of Delikatesse dainty < French délicatesse
Explanation
A delicatessen is a small market where you can buy prepared food, sandwiches, sliced meat and cheese, and other food items. Your morning routine might include a stop at the delicatessen for a toasted bagel. A delicatessen is a specialty food shop that often specializes in traditionally Jewish, Italian, or German foods. While you can stock up on bread, milk, and other staples at many delicatessens, they're best known for unusual ethnic foods and prepared sandwiches and salads. The word delicatessen comes from the German delikatessen, which is plural for delikatesse, "delicacy" or "fine food."
Vocabulary lists containing delicatessen
The Melting Pot: Food Words from Other Languages
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The View from Saturday
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Stuart Little
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Delicatessen are iconic, but Meg Ryan’s impassioned exclamations at the deli in “When Harry Met Sally” may be even more iconic.
From Salon • Dec. 17, 2025
Maria Luisa Empanadas moves into the former Schmaltzy’s Delicatessen space on Leary Way, offering meat and vegetarian versions of its namesake dish.
From Seattle Times • May 4, 2024
Catherine Goodman, at the Food for Thought Delicatessen, said 20mph is "perfect" for High Street, with so many shoppers and other pedestrians crossing the road.
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2023
I thought of Art’s Delicatessen & Restaurant as the perfect place to meet up.
From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2022
From three o’clock to four o’clock in the afternoon there was no policeman on duty in the block where Blum’s Delicatessen was and it would be safe.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
