Dainty

English

Adjective

Dainty (comparative daintier, superlative daintiest)

1. Delicately small and pretty.
2. Fastidious and fussy when eating.

Noun

Dainty (plural dainties)

1. A delicacy.
   • 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     ...my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great cause for thankfulness that I was not driven to any extremities for food, but had rather plenty, even to dainties.

2. (Canada, Prairies and northwestern Ontario) Fancy cookies, pastries, or squares served at a social event (usually plural).

Adjectives for Dainty

carefully-prepared; prized; coveted; diet-robbing; sugared; tempting; toothsome.

Verbs for Dainty

allure by—; crave—; desire—; feed on—; pamper with—; prepare—; promise—; provide—; relish—; reward with—; share—; spice—; store—; surrender to—; —appeals; —delights; —pleases.

Adverbs for Dainty

fastidiously; exquisitely; subtly; extremely; gracefully; charmingly; girlishly; personally; faultlessly; fashionably; meticulously; primly; demurely; delicately; particularly; scrupulously; pleasingly; immaculately; sweetly; fragrantly.

Synonyms for Dainty

neat, petite, nice, delicate, particular, choice, sweet, fine, refined, pretty, fastidious, rare, exquisite, elegant, pure, soft, tender, pleasing.

Antonyms for Dainty

sour, litter, tasteless, unpleasant, disgusting, coarse, harsh, gross, repellent, inferior.

Thesaurus

acute, agreeable, airy, ambrosia, ambrosial, appetizing, attenuate, attenuated, beautiful, bleached, bonne bouche, bonny, breakable, bright, brittle, cate, cheap-jack, choice, choice morsel, civilized, clean, cleanly, cobwebby, comestible, comfit, crumbly, cultivated, cultured, cunning, cute, delectable, delicacy, delicat, delicate, delicately weak, delicious, delightful, dessert, diaphanous, dirt-free, discriminating, downy, easy, eatable, edible, effeminate, elegant, esculent, ethereal, exquisite, fair, fastidious, filmy, fine, fine-drawn, fine-grained, finespun, finical, finicking, finicky, flimsy, fluffy, fragile, frail, frangible, fresh, fussy, fuzzy, gauzy, genteel, gentle, gimcrack, gimcracky, good, good to eat, good-tasting, goody, gossamer, gossamery, graceful, gracile, gracious, gustable, gusty, immaculate, jerry, jerry-built, juicy, kickshaw, kosher, light, lightweight, likable, lovely, luscious, lush, manna, mignon, mincing, morsel, namby-pamby, neat, nectar, nectareous, nectarous, nice, nonpolluted, of cleanly habits, of gourmet quality, overrefined, palatable, papery, particular, pasteboardy, perceptive, pernickety, persnickety, pleasing, polished, pretty, pubescent, puny, pure, rare, rarefied, recherche, refined, ritually pure, sapid, satin, satiny, savorous, savory, scrumptious, select, sensitive, shattery, shiny, silky, sissified, sleazy, slight, smooth, smut-free, smutless, soft, sophisticated, spotless, squeamish, stainless, subtile, subtle, succulent, superior, sweet, sweetmeat, tacky, tahar, tasty, tender, tenuous, thin, thin-spun, tidbit, titbit, toothsome, treat, tubbed, unadulterated, unbesmirched, unblemished, unblotted, undefiled, unmuddied, unpolluted, unsmirched, unsmudged, unsoiled, unspotted, unstained, unsubstantial, unsullied, untainted, untarnished, velutinous, velvety, well-scrubbed, well-washed, white, whitened, wiredrawn, wispy, womanish, yummy

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -eɪnti

Translations

Adjective

Delicately small and pretty

Bulgarian: нежен (bg), изискан (bg) Finnish: siro (fi) French: délicat (fr)

Russian: изящный Welsh: amheuthun (cy)

Fastidious and fussy when eating

Bulgarian: придирчив (bg) Finnish: nirso (fi), valikoiva (fi)

Russian: привередливый (ru)

Noun

• Bulgarian: деликатес, лакомство

References

• “Dainty” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.