delicious

delicious — adjective

1. If food or drink is delicious, it has a wonderful taste that makes you feel plea

1.adjectiveA1
Definition

If food or drink is delicious, it has a wonderful taste that makes you feel pleased and satisfied. The word can also describe a smell that is very pleasant.

Example

The chocolate cake at Heather's party was absolutely delicious — everyone asked for a second slice.

strong intensifier: absolutely delicious

Marco's grandmother makes a delicious chicken soup with ginger and herbs.

common pattern: delicious + [food noun]

Common collocations
  • delicious food
  • delicious meal
  • delicious taste
  • delicious flavour
  • delicious smell
  • delicious aroma
  • absolutely delicious
  • really delicious
  • delicious recipe
Synonyms
  • tasty

    less strong in tone; more informal and casual than delicious

  • flavourful

    emphasises a rich, complex combination of tastes rather than overall pleasure

  • mouth-watering

    stronger and more vivid; often used in advertising or descriptions of food seen/photographed

Antonyms
  • bland

    lacking strong flavour; the opposite of a pronounced taste

  • disgusting

    much stronger negative, describing something that makes you feel sick

Grammar Patterns

be + delicious

delicious + noun (e.g. food, cake, smell)

intensifier + delicious

Usage Note

Delicious is a gradable adjective, so it can be modified by intensifiers: very delicious, really delicious, absolutely delicious. Avoid using it with extremely — the word already carries strong positive force. Non-gradable alternatives like mouth-watering or scrumptious exist but are less common in everyday speech.

Common Mistakes

I very like delicious food.
I really like this food
it is delicious.' — Very cannot modify like directly in English; delicious is an adjective, not a verb complement.

2. People describe an experience, situation, or piece of information as delicious w

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

People describe an experience, situation, or piece of information as delicious when it gives them great enjoyment or satisfaction, often in a surprising, amusing, or slightly secret way.

Example

Reading novels on the beach for a whole week sounded delicious to Christopher.

Amira shared some delicious gossip about their old classmates at the reunion dinner.

collocation: delicious gossip

Common collocations
  • delicious irony
  • delicious gossip
  • delicious sense of relief
  • delicious prospect
  • delicious pleasure
Synonyms
  • delightful

    more standard and common for experiences; less informal than delicious

  • pleasurable

    more formal and neutral; lacking the slightly mischievous tone of delicious

  • entertaining

    focuses on amusement rather than deep satisfaction

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

be + delicious (for figurative situations)

delicious + [abstract noun] (e.g. irony, gossip, sense of relief)

Usage Note

This is a figurative extension of the taste meaning. It is most common in informal, conversational English or in creative writing. Typical collocates include gossip, irony, sense of relief, prospect, pleasure. It does NOT describe people (do not say 'a delicious person').

Common Mistakes

She is a delicious person to talk to.
She is a delightful person to talk to.
Delicious cannot be used to describe people directly; use delightful or wonderful instead.

delicious — noun

Word family

  • deliciously
    adverbB2
  • deliciousness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe food that gives pleasure when eaten, but they differ in strength and focus. Delicious (A1) is the most common and broadly useful word — it works for any food or drink that tastes very good. Tasty (A2) is slightly more informal and a little weaker in intensity; you might call a simple sandwich 'tasty' but a special dessert 'delicious'. Flavourful (B2) shifts attention to the range and depth of flavours rather than the overall experience — it suits savoury dishes, stews, and foods with spices. Mouth-watering (B1) is the most vivid and physical: it suggests that the sight or smell of food literally makes your mouth produce saliva, which makes it popular in advertising and food writing. For everyday use, delicious and tasty cover most situations; flavourful and mouth-watering are more specific and should be reserved when those nuances matter.

delicious ↗tasty ↗flavourfulmouth-watering

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • looks delicious
  • smells delicious
  • tastes delicious
  • sounds delicious

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word delicious comes from the Latin word deliciosus, meaning 'full of delight or pleasure', which in turn comes from deliciae ('delight, charm'). It entered English through Old French in the 13th century and was originally used for anything giving great pleasure — not just food. The modern narrowing to 'extremely pleasant taste' happened over the following centuries, though the broader figurative sense ('delicious irony') survives.