délicat
\de.li.ka\
The verdict
“délicat” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #7,178 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #7,178
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Qui est d’une très grande finesse, très délié.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | délicat |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \de.li.ka\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #7,178 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “délicat” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for délicat is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \de.li.ka\. Corpus data places it at rank #7,178 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for délicat, with forms such as "ddélicat", "delicat", and "dléicat". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "délit", "délice", "délices", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is délicat, spelled D-É-L-I-C-A-T.
Definition
- 1Qui est d’une très grande finesse, très délié.
- 2Qui est fait, travaillé, façonné avec adresse et légèreté, avec un soin extrême et une attention minutieuse.
- 3qui fait preuve d’adresse et de légèreté.
- 4Se dit des manières de penser et de s’exprimer, lorsqu’elles ont de la finesse, de la grâce, de la sensibilité.
- 5Ce qui est fait ou exprimé d’une manière ingénieuse et détournée par ménagement, par courtoisie, par modestie, par fierté.
- 6Subtil.
- 7Qui est faible, qui s’altère facilement.
- 8Qui est agréable au goût, et se dit surtout des aliments choisis et recherchés.
- 9Frêle et fragile.
- 10Qui est difficile, embarrassant, dangereux, périlleux.
- 11Qui est sensible, qui juge finement de ce qui regarde les sens ou l’esprit.
- 12Qui est difficile à contenter.
- 13Qui est susceptible, facile à choquer, à offenser.
- 14Qui est scrupuleux sur ce qui concerne la probité, la morale, ou les simples bienséances.
- 15Qui est conforme à la probité, à la morale, aux bienséances.
- 16Se dit d'un cheval de trot qui requiert une vigilance particulière car son tempérament lui fait courir le risque de se montrer fautif dans ses allures, notamment en se mettant au galop.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddélicat,delicat,dléicat,déilcat,délciat,déliact,délicatt,déliccat,délicta,déllicat,édlicat
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of délicat - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "délicat"?
What does "délicat" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "délicat"?
How do you pronounce "délicat"?
What language does "délicat" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “délicat”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-É-L-I-C-A-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \de.li.ka\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “délit” - see the side-by-side comparison. délicat vs délit
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.