indelicate

[in-del-i-kit]

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adjective

offensive to a sense of generally accepted propriety, modesty, or decency; improper, unrefined, or coarse: indelicate language.
not delicate; lacking delicacy; rough.

Origin of indelicate

First recorded in 1735–45; in-³ + delicate

Related formsin·del·i·cate·ly, adverbin·del·i·cate·ness, noun

Synonyms for indelicate

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1. indecorous, untactful, gauche, rude.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for indelicate

indecorous, base, brash, callow, coarse, crude, earthy, embarrassing, immodest, improper, indecent, lewd, low, off-color, offensive, outrageous, rude, suggestive, tasteless, unbecoming

Examples from the Web for indelicate

Historical Examples of indelicate

Dear me, ma'am, but when nobody will know it, how can it be indelicate?
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Of course it would be indelicate, if not unfeeling, to ask her about it.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844
Various
"You are indelicate," said she, and though she frowned her eyes laughed.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
I should never have suspected you of so indelicate an imagination.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
The remonstrant of 1800 said "indelicate," of 1850 "immodest," of 1900 "impractical."
The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV
Various

British Dictionary definitions for indelicate

indelicate

adjective

coarse, crude, or rough
offensive, embarrassing, or tasteless

Derived Formsindelicacy or indelicateness, nounindelicately, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for indelicate

adj.

1742, "offensive to propriety," from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + delicate. Related: Indelicately.