delicatessen
Americannoun
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a store selling foods already prepared or requiring little preparation for serving, as cooked meats, cheese, salads, and the like.
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Informal. the food products sold in such a store or at a counter.
We're having delicatessen for dinner.
noun
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a shop selling various foods, esp unusual or imported foods, already cooked or prepared
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such foods
Etymology
Origin of delicatessen
1885–90, < German, plural of Delikatesse dainty < French délicatesse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The city’s appetizing stores, which first appeared in the late 19th century, are a type of delicatessen that only sells products such as smoked and cured fish, dairy and nuts due to kosher law.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Bunty Singh, who owns a local café and delicatessen, said he had no issue with anyone flying a national flag but also insisted there were no problems with immigration in Bridge of Weir.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025
They gave me this fantastic send-off, with a pop-up delicatessen on the set, called Sam’s Delicatessen.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2024
From the pale, shredded stuff in the supermarket delicatessen to my own favorite homemade version that combines cabbage, kale and chard in a vaguely Asian dressing, it all works for me.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2023
I did not see a proper butcher around, so I went into a delicatessen, a type of shop I had never encountered until I went to Johannesburg.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
