Dictionary Definition
bitter adj
1 marked by strong resentment or cynicism; "an
acrimonious dispute"; "bitter about the divorce" [syn: acrimonious]
2 very difficult to accept or bear; "the bitter
truth"; "a bitter sorrow"
3 harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone
piercing otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments";
"her acrid remarks make her many enemies"; "bitter words";
"blistering criticism"; "caustic jokes about political
assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics"; "a sulfurous
denunciation" [syn: acerb,
acerbic, acid, acrid, blistering, caustic, sulfurous, sulphurous, venomous, virulent, vitriolic]
4 one of the four basic taste sensations; sharp
and disagreeable; like the taste of quinine
5 expressive of severe grief or regret; "shed
bitter tears"
6 proceeding from or exhibiting great hostility
or animosity; "a bitter struggle"; "bitter enemies"
7 causing a sharply painful or stinging
sensation; used especially of cold; "bitter cold"; "a biting wind"
[syn: biting]
Noun
1 English term for a dry sharp-tasting ale with
strong flavor of hops (usually on draft)
2 the taste experience when quinine or coffee is
taken into the mouth [syn: bitterness]
3 the property of having a harsh unpleasant taste
[syn: bitterness] adv
: extremely and sharply; "it was bitterly cold"; "bitter cold"
[syn: piercingly,
bitterly, bitingly] v : make bitter
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
bitterHomophones
- bidder italbrac in some dialects
Adjective
- Having an acrid
taste (usually from a
basic substance)
- The coffee was bitter.
- Harsh, piercing or stinging
- A bitter wind blew from the north.
- 1999: It was at the end of February, ... when the world was cold, and a bitter wind howled down the moors.... — Neil Gaiman, Stardust, pg. 31 (Perennial paperback edition)
- A bitter wind blew from the north.
- Hateful or hostile
- They're bitter enemies.
- Cynical and resentful
- I've been bitter ever since that defeat.
Usage notes
- The one-word comparative form bitterer and superlative form bitterest exist, but are less common than their two-word counterparts |more bitter and |most bitter.
Translations
having an acrid taste
- Albanian: hidhur
- Bosnian: gorak
- Bulgarian: горчив
- Catalan: amarg
- Chinese Traditional/Simplified: 苦澀, 苦涩
- Croatian: gorak ; trpak ; opor
- Czech: hořký
- Danish: bitter
- Dutch: bitter
- Ewe: veve
- Fijian: qona
- Finnish: kitkerä, karvas
- French: amer
- German: bitter
- Guaraní: ro
- Hebrew: , ; ,
- Hungarian: keserű
- Italian: amaro, amara
- Japanese: (, nigai)
- Kurdish:
- Sorani: تاڵ
- Latin: amarus
- Marathi: कडू (kadū)
- Polish: gorzki
- Portuguese: amargo
- Romanian: amar
- Russian: горький
- Serbian:
- Slovak: horký
- Slovene: grenak , grenka , grenko
- Spanish: amargo
- Swedish: bitter
- Telugu: చేదు (chaedu)
- Tongan: kava
harsh, piercing or stinging
hateful or hostile
cynical and resentful
- Bulgarian: циничен
- Croatian: ogorčen
- Danish: bitter, forbitret
- Dutch: verbitterd
- Finnish: katkera
- French: amer
- German: verbittert
- Hebrew: ,
- Latin: amarus
- Slovene: zagrenjen , zagrenjena , zagrenjeno
- Spanish: amargado
- Swedish: bitter
- ttbc CJKV Characters: 辛
- ttbc Breton: c'hwerv
- ttbc Hindi: कडुवा (ka.duvā)
- ttbc Indonesian: pahit, getir
- ttbc Interlingua: acerbe, amar
- ttbc Romanian: amar m, amară f
- ttbc Telugu: చేదు (cEdu)
- ttbc Urdu: (ka.duvā)
- Volapük: biedik
Noun
Translations
liquid or powder used in mixed drinks or as
tonic
- Danish: bitter
- Hungarian: gyomorkeserű
type of beer
- Danish: bitter
Etymology 1
From German bitterAdjective
bitter, bitrere, bitrest- bitter (all meanings)
Noun
bitterEtymology 2
From English bitterNoun
bitter- bitter (type of beer - only known generally in Denmark for a few years)
Dutch
Pronunciation
Adjective
- bitter (having an acrid taste)
Related terms
verbitterdGerman
Etymology
Old High German bittarAdjective
Italian
Noun
bitterOld English
Etymology
Maybe from the verb *bitanAdjective
bitterSwedish
Pronunciation
Adjective
bitterExtensive Definition
Bitter can refer to:
- Bitter, one of the five basic tastes;
- Bitter, a kind of ale particularly popular in Britain or
- Bitters, an herbal preparation now used mostly in cocktails.
- Bitter, a German car company
- Bitterness, an emotion similar to resentment.
- Francis Bitter, American physicist
- Bitter Coat, A kind of clothing used in Brazilian ceremonies
- Bitter, single by New Zealand band Shihad. Released in August of 1995, featured two b-sides: Bring your Friends and Just Like Everybody Else.
- Bitter, an album by Me'shell Ndegeocello.
bitter in German: Bitter (Begriffsklärung)
bitter in French: Amertume
bitter in Italian: Amaro (disambigua)
bitter in Dutch: Bitter
bitter in Norwegian: Bitter
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Siberian, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, affecting, afflictive, aftertaste, algid, alienated, amaroidal, annoying, antagonistic, antipathetic, arctic, asperous, astringent, austere, bad, belligerent, below zero,
bilious, biting, bitter as gall, bitterly
cold, bleak, boreal, brisk, brumal, brutal, burning, caustic, cheerless, choleric, clashing, coarse, cold, cold as charity, cold as
death, cold as ice, cold as marble, colliding, comfortless, conflicting, corroding, corrosive, crisp, cruel, cutting, deplorable, depressing, depressive, despiteful, disagreeable, discomforting, dislikable, dismal, dismaying, dispiriting, displeasing, distasteful, distressful, distressing, disturbing, divided, dolorific, dolorogenic, dolorous, double-edged,
dreary, dyspeptic, edged, embittered, escharotic, estranged, fierce, flavor, freezing, freezing cold,
frigid, full of hate,
galling, gelid, glacial, grievous, gust, hard, harsh, hateful, hibernal, hiemal, hostile, hyperborean, ice-cold,
ice-encrusted, icelike,
icy, incisive, inclement, intemperate, irreconcilable, irritating, jaundiced, joyless, keen, lamentable, malevolent, malicious, malignant, miserable, mordacious, mordant, mournful, moving, nasty, nipping, nippy, nose-tickling, numbing, obnoxious, offensive, painful, palate, pathetic, penetrating, piercing, pinching, piquant, piteous, pitiable, poignant, provoking, pungent, quarrelsome, rancorous, rankled, raw, regrettable, relish, reproachful, repugnant, resentful, resenting, rigorous, rough, rueful, rugged, sad, saddening, salt, sapidity, sapor, savor, savoriness, scathing, scorching, set against,
severe, sharp, sleety, slushy, smack, snappy, sore, sorrowful, sour, sour-tempered, soured, spiteful, splenetic, stabbing, stewing, stinging, stomach, stone-cold, strident, stringent, subzero, supercooled, sweet, tang, tart, taste, thankless, tongue, tooth, touching, trenchant, ugly, unalluring, unappealing, unappetizing, unattractive, uncomfortable, undelectable, undelicious, undesirable, unengaging, unenjoyable, uninviting, unkind, unlikable, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpleasing, unsavory, untasteful, unwelcome, vehement, venomous, vexatious, vicious, vinegarish, violent, virulent, vitriolic, winterbound, winterlike, wintery, wintry, withering, woebegone, woeful, wretched