Word Choice – Tasty, Lovely, Delicious, and Yummy: Understanding the Differences

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I know different English words for good tasting foods or drinks: tasty, lovely, delicious, yummy… But unfortunately the dictionary entries do not enable me to decide which one to use in which situation.

Delicious seems to be a "grown-ups' word", yummy a word of child speak: is that correct? What about tasty and lovely? Are there other words with this meaning? Which word should I use for an one-word-exclamation that I like the taste of the food/drink?

Best Answer

Delicious is adult/formal and a safe choice; yummy is childish; tasty and lovely are less formal.

Depending on who you are with, you might notice that English people are much less likely to make a one-word exclamation about food than people from other cultures.

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