How to Use indelicate in a Sentence

indelicate

adjective
  • Many consider it indelicate to talk about such things in mixed company.
  • In many species, males have evolved structures that give them an edge in their indelicate liaisons with females.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 3 May 2012
  • The pair also sparred on a more indelicate campaign trail moment.
    — Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY, 20 Oct. 2024
  • At first, Louisa had been horrified by the clumsy, indelicate house, though her horror was silent.
    — Susan Choi, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2020
  • And oversteer never feels more than an indelicate throttle-prod away, especially on damp roads and with modest tires.
    — Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 31 May 2022
  • Unless, that is, your home is in Australia or New Zealand, where root is an indelicate slang word.
    — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2023
  • The loss of Lawrence is a huge blow, but at the risk of sounding indelicate, Lawrence was the unit’s best player last season and how did that turn out?
    — David Moore, Dallas News, 17 Sep. 2021
  • Noom is hardly the only company to be accused of indelicate messaging.
    — Laura Forman, WSJ, 1 Feb. 2022
  • The kits sport clumsy, oddly curved, and painfully jagged instruments, including dull saws and indelicate pinchers.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 11 July 2017
  • It has been estimated that at least a million limericks — good, mediocre and indelicate — are in existence today.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Dec. 2021
  • These nude illusions always look underwhelming, the shapes are indelicate, and the roots don’t blend with the geometric element.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024
  • Advertisement The president-elect’s style — brash, indelicate and pugilistic — is distilled in his son.
    — Michelle L. Price, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024
  • There is her decadence and indelicate sense of fancy; her fascination with animals and with bodies, both otherworldly and profane.
    — Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2020
  • For example, someone who remains calm and refrains from using indelicate words in high-pressure situations gives off a feeling of control even when those around them are losing their heads.
    — Jon Michail, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Some in Fall River are less than excited to be known as Lizzietown or Bordenville or any number of indelicate nicknames.
    — Andrea Simakis, cleveland, 20 Oct. 2019
  • But an indelicate tweet published on the company's Twitter account said Papa John's drew more attention to the hate groups.
    — Grace Schneider, The Courier-Journal, 21 Dec. 2017
  • His view toward law could be summarized in his indelicate three-word exhortation to his fellow prisoners at Nuremberg to show no remorse for crime and no respect for law.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
  • All of these indelicate products come to us thanks to skin-care companies, launched over the past few years, that are marketing strenuously—some would say, overcompensatingly—to men.
    — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 15 Mar. 2017
  • At the same time, the musician’s indelicate missives compel one to ask just what drove Mozart’s proclivity to fixate on things scatological.
    — Jonathan Rosenberg, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Sep. 2017
  • In its first two seasons, viewers have gone on transcontinental journeys, including an indelicate hotel manager in Hawaii and a strange love square in Italy.
    — Shivani Gonzalez, New York Times, 10 Feb. 2025
  • Clutch effort is Herculean, and shifting is indelicate but immensely satisfying.
    — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 19 Dec. 2025
  • All this may well be intended as tongue-in-cheek by the script, but Lynch’s indelicate handling arrives at something more subjugated by heavy-breathing clichés than ironically playful towards them.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 Oct. 2023
  • Clutch effort is Herculean, and shifting—like the recoil of a big-bore automatic handgun—is indelicate but infinitely satisfying.
    — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2024
  • Fisher, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $3 billion, is the quintessential member of the Lucky Sperm Club, not to be indelicate.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
  • Reared in New York’s indelicate political culture, Trump does not like to appear meek, using rallies and his Twitter account to lacerate rivals.
    — Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 9 July 2018
  • Reared in New York's indelicate political culture, Trump does not like to appear meek, using rallies and his Twitter account to lacerate rivals.
    — Paul Schwartzman and Josh Dawsey, chicagotribune.com, 9 July 2018
  • Is this an indelicate time to mention that the Ramblers beat a Tennessee team missing its shot-blocking center because of injury and beat a Kansas State team missing its top scorer and rebounder because of injury?
    — Steve Rosenbloom, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2018
  • While Republicans often run on law-and-order themes, an indelicate approach could carry considerable danger at a moment of such unusual political instability.
    — Alexander Burns, New York Times, 17 July 2016
  • Acting Secretary Elaine Duke, another nonpolitical homeland expert, ran into trouble for indelicate comments in response to a question about one of the recent hurricanes, for instance.
    — Laura Meckler, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'indelicate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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