indelicacy
/ɪnˈdɛlɪkəsi
/noun (plural indelicacies) [mass noun]
1A lack of sensitive understanding or tact: the magazine printed the photographs with manifest indelicacy for commercial ends [count noun]: diplomatic indelicacies...
- Apologising for the indelicacy he asks Nelly the amount involved.
- Mr. Grantley, without any indelicacy or mention of their previous meeting, smiled at her when the customary salutations were being made.
- Excuse my indelicacy, but how much are you worth?
Synonyms
impropriety, unseemliness, unbecomingness, indignity, immodesty, indecency, obscenity, indecorum, indiscretion, immorality, shamelessness;
insensitivity, tactlessness;
undesirability, unacceptability, impoliteness, discourtesy, bad taste, ill breeding, bad manners
2The quality of being slightly indecent: the play’s cynicism and sexual indelicacy [count noun]: such crude indelicacies...
- Coupled with the use of her given name, Elizabeth was too flustered to think very much about the indelicacy of the situation.
- My father did not witness enough of our cousin's indelicacy to give alarm or he would have acted.
- Innuendo is only ever really funny in a setting where direct indelicacy is inappropriate.
- house surgeon
- house swallow
- house swap
- house swapping
- house tablemaid
- house tailor
- house tax
- house telephone
- house-to-house
- housetop
- house trailer
- house-train
- house trap
- house type
- House Un-American Activities Committee
- house urn
- houseward
- housewares
- housewarm
- house-warmer
- house-warming
- house weasel
- house white
- housewife
- housewife cloth