'delicious-looking' originates from English, specifically a compound of the adjective 'delicious' and the present participle 'looking', where 'delicious' ultimately comes from Latin 'deliciosus' (from 'deliciae' meaning 'delight') and 'looking' traces back to Old English 'lōcian' meaning 'to look' or 'to seem'.

'delicious' passed from Latin 'deliciosus' into Old French (e.g. 'delicieux') and Middle English before becoming modern English 'delicious'; 'looking' developed from Old English 'lōcian' through Middle English forms of 'look' plus the -ing participle to yield the modern present participle 'looking'. The compound 'delicious-looking' is a modern English descriptive formation combining the two.

Initially, 'delicious' meant 'giving delight' and 'looking' meant 'appearing'; over time the compound came to be used specifically to mean 'appearing to be tasty' (i.e., visually suggestive of being delicious).