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Glite Dictionary
Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight

1 3.7
A soft sweet candy made from jelly, often flavored with rose or lemon and dusted with sugar
  • noun
  • /ˈtɜrkɪʃ dɪˈlaɪt/
translation icon : delicia turca
  • - I guarantee you're not allergic to Turkish delight.

Examples

  • He enjoys indulging in Turkish Delight after his meals, especially the lemon-flavored ones.

  • Well, like a Turkish delight, if you will.

  • - Do you eat Turkish Delight?

    Belfast (2021)

  • Who the hell eats Turkish Delight?

    Belfast (2021)

  • Really nice bed, cool place to hang out with some delicious Turkish delights that they threw in.

  • A bit successful to get some souvenirs and lots of Turkish delights before we packed up to come back.

  • At the market, I bought some Turkish Delight flavored with rose water and dusted with powdered sugar.

  • She shared pieces of Turkish Delight with her friends during the holiday gathering.

Synonyms

loukoum
vsTurkish Delight
9.3

A soft chewy sweet often flavored and covered in powdered sugar

has identical meaning but is an alternate name for the same confection

Surface Forms

Turkish Delight singular
Turkish Delights plural

Morphology

Turkish + delight

The parts 'Turkish' (of Turkey) and 'delight' (a pleasurable thing) make it clear to a B1 learner that this refers to something pleasurable associated with Turkey, so some general sense is derivable. However, the item is a lexicalized name for a specific jellied sweet (lokum) rather than any generic 'delight', so the precise culinary meaning is not fully predictable from the constituents. This partial compositionality makes the expression semi-transparent.

Etymology

Turkish Delight is a sweet from Turkey. Candy makers made small, soft jelly cubes flavored with rose or lemon and dusted with sugar, so people called the candy a 'delight'.