delicious

/dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/

//dɪˈlɪʃ.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"delicious" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“delicious” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,012. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,012
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.

Corpus desk

Index EN-delicious · delicious · English

delicious · rank #4,012 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,012
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH couples

Nearest frequency peer: couples (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “delicious”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “delicious” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

delicious vs delirious
89% similar
delicious vs deliciously
82% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for delicious
PropertyValue
Headworddelicious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#4,012
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “delicious” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).deliciouslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “couples” (#4,011), “deny” (#4,013), “contributions” (#4,010). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around delicious (IPA /dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #4,012 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for delicious, with forms such as "ddelicious", "deilcious", and "delciious". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "delirious", "deliciously", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English delicious, from Anglo-Norman delicious, from Old French delicious, delicieux, from Late Latin dēliciōsus (“delicate, delicious”), from dēliciae (“delights”), plural of dēlicia (“pleasure”), from delicere (“to allure, to entice”), from de… The correct English form is delicious, spelled D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.
  2. 2
    Pleasing to a person's taste; pleasing to the eyes or mind.
  3. 3
    Having tremendous sex appeal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how delicious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It was quite dark by the time Tarzan had gorged himself. Ah, but it had been delicious! Never had he quite accustomed himself to the ruined flesh that civilized men had served him, and in the bottom of his savage heart there had constantly been the craving for the warm meat of the fresh kill, and the rich, red blood.
  2. The irony is delicious!

Etymology

From Middle English delicious, from Anglo-Norman delicious, from Old French delicious, delicieux, from Late Latin dēliciōsus (“delicate, delicious”), from dēliciae (“delights”), plural of dēlicia (“pleasure”), from delicere (“to allure, to entice”), from de- (“away”) + laciō (“to lure, deceive”), from Proto-Italic *lakjō (“to draw, pull”), of unknown ultimate origin. Displaced native Old English ārlīċ (“delicious”).

Synonyms

ambrosialappetizingdaintydelectabledeliciousdelishexquisitefinger-lickin' goodflavorfulflavorousflavorsomegustfullekkerlickerishlip-smackinglusciousmoreishmouthwateringnummyonopalatablesapidsavoryscrummytastefultastytoothfultoothsomeyummy

Antonyms

disgustingdistastefulnontastyundeliciousunpalatableuntastyyucky

This word in other languages

delicioso(Español)délicieux(Français)köstlich(Deutsch)delicioso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddelicious
  • deilcious
  • delciious
  • deliccious
  • deliciosu
  • deliciouss
  • deliciuos
  • delicoius
  • deliicous
  • dellicious
  • dleicious
  • edlicious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of delicious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ddelicious1deilcious2delciious2deliccious1deliciosu2deliciouss1deliciuos2delicoius2
Edit distance from "delicious"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "delicious"?
"delicious" is spelled D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/.
What does "delicious" mean?
As an adjective, "delicious" means: Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.
What words are commonly confused with "delicious"?
"delicious" is commonly confused with "delirious", "deliciously". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "delicious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "delicious" is /dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "delicious"?
From Middle English delicious, from Anglo-Norman delicious, from Old French delicious, delicieux, from Late Latin dēliciōsus (“delicate, delicious”), from dēliciae (“delights”), plural of dēlicia (“pleasure”), from delicere (“to allure, to entice”... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "delicious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

impressed#4,022indicated#4,023ministers#4,032principle#4,037

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

terrorist12 variantsstretch12 variantssequence12 variantsreporter12 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "delicious". Here's where to go from here.

  • "delicious" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "delirious". View pair
  • 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,012 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list