A delicacy is a rare or special food that people consider particularly choice or enjoyable, often something unusual, expensive, or difficult to prepare. In France, escargots (cooked snails) are a delicacy. In Japan, people treasure fugu, a carefully prepared pufferfish. Caviar, the salt-cured eggs of sturgeon fish, counts as a delicacy in many countries. What makes something a delicacy often depends on where you live: fried grasshoppers might be a delicacy in one culture while seeming strange in another.

Delicacies can range from expensive rarities to treasured homemade foods. Your grandmother's homemade apple pie might be a family delicacy, something special she makes only on holidays. The key is that a delicacy feels precious or refined, worth savoring slowly.

The word also describes gentleness and careful attention. You might handle a baby bird with delicacy, or approach a sensitive topic with delicacy so you don't hurt someone's feelings. A surgeon operates with delicacy, making precise movements. In this sense, delicacy means treating something fragile with the care it deserves.

When someone shows delicacy in a difficult conversation, they're being thoughtful about others' feelings, choosing words carefully rather than barging ahead without thinking.