bitter

Study(27)

UK /ˈbɪt.ə/ US /ˈbɪ.tɚ/

adj 4noun 4adv 1verb 1name 1

Collocations

(adj.) angry/unhappy

VERBS

be, feel, seem

become, grow, turn

After their divorce, she became bitter and refused to speak to him for years.

remain

leave sb, make sb

Years of unfair treatment at work made him bitter and resentful toward his former colleagues.

ADV

extremely, very | quite, rather, slightly

PREP

about

He remained bitter about losing the job to someone less experienced than him.

towards

She has remained bitter towards her former business partner for many years now.

(adj.) very cold

VERBS

become, turn

After the argument, their friendship became bitter and they stopped speaking to each other.

remain

ADV

extremely, really, very | quite, rather

(adj.) having a sharp taste

VERBS

be, taste

The medicine was so bitter that my son refused to swallow it.

ADV

extremely, very | rather, slightly, somewhat

Definitions

adj

Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).

The coffee tasted bitter.

Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth[…].

Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.

It was at the end of February, […] when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors […].

Hateful or hostile.

They're bitter enemies.

Tottenham have not won in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium for 12 years, with Arsenal losing just one of their last 29 home league games against their bitter rivals.

Cynical and resentful.

I've been bitter ever since that defeat.

adv

To an intense or severe degree; bitterly.

A dynamic personality in the outfit, he met his death in the bitter-fought engagements in Venafro.

After that bitter-spoken warning, talk ceased outside […].

noun

A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.

Thus I begin: "All is not gold that glitters, "Pleasure seems sweet, but proves a glass of bitters.

A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.

A turn of a cable about the bitts.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — the property of having a harsh unpleasant taste

bitterness

noun — the taste experience when quinine or coffee is taken into th

bitterness

adjective — marked by strong resentment or cynicism

acrimonious

adjective — causing a sharply painful or stinging sensation

biting

adjective — harsh or corrosive in tone

acerb
acerbic
acid
acrid
blistering
caustic
sulfurous
sulphurous

adverb — extremely and sharply

piercingly
bitterly
bitingly

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

bitter end

That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor.

pay out a rope to the bitter end (pay out all of the rope)

take the bitter with the sweet

To accept positive things with negative things.

Today we had the bitter with the sweet: they approved the loan but only gave us a year to pay it back in.

swallow a bitter pill

To accept or endure an unpleasant situation.

Example Bank

The coffee tasted bitter.

Wiktionary

A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami

Wiktionary

A dynamic personality in the outfit, he met his death in the bitter-fought engagements in Venafro.

Wiktionary

After that bitter-spoken warning, talk ceased outside […].

Wiktionary

The dream of it ached, bitter and sharp, for that was all it was.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, bitter is marked as archaic, informal. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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