delicatessen
Americannoun
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delicatessens
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Her three siblings have already emigrated, and she is considering shutting down her small delicatessen to follow them abroad.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
An early job washing dishes at a delicatessen piqued her interest in cooking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Opening her delicatessen just after lockdown, she has lived in the town for 12 years and has seen the number of independent shops flourish, even though "most High Streets have died these days".
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2025
Shortly after noon, customers continued to stream in and out of the delicatessen during the lunchtime rush.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
Mr. Pignati said he only got the card so his wife could go shopping in the fancy-food delicatessen they’ve got at Beekman’s.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
The farm has supplied restaurants including the Michelin-starred Les Crayères in Reims, as well as delicatessens and private clients, Franceinfo reports.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
They’ve recently embraced a unique kind of street style — one that’s emblazoned with logos of famous delicatessens and their most popular offerings, like knishes, pastrami, pickles and bagels.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2023
Learn how to roll with the best in an afternoon lesson from the sfogline of La Salumeria, one of the city’s best delicatessens.
From National Geographic ● Apr. 17, 2023
So, much of what you used to love — diners, bike shops, tailors, hat stores, delicatessens, art-supply stores, bistros — disappeared.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2019
Through personal letters to desirable shops, delicatessens, boarding-houses, colleges, etc.
From Every Step in Canning by Grace Viall Gray
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.
