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.
Across the corner from us was Langer’s, whose owner made national news in 2024 when he vowed to close his famed delicatessen if MacArthur Park didn’t improve.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 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
From the pale, shredded stuff in the supermarket delicatessen to my own favorite homemade version that combines cabbage, kale and chard in a vaguely Asian dressing, it all works for me.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2023
The girl standing in front of the delicatessen stoops to tie her shoe.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
