English Explanatory Dictionary

bitter

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance).
  2. Harsh, piercing, acerbic or stinging.
  3. Hateful or hostile.
  4. Cynical and resentful.
adv
  1. To an intense or severe degree; bitterly.
noun
  1. A liquid or powder, made from bitter herbs, used in mixed drinks or as a tonic.
  2. A type of beer heavily flavored with hops.
  3. A turn of a cable about the bitts.
verb
  1. To make bitter.
noun
  1. A hardware system whose architecture is based around units of the specified number of bits (binary digits).
name
  1. A surname from Dutch or German.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɪt.ə/ [ˈbɪt.ʰə] [ˈbɪʔ.ə] /ˈbɪ.tɚ/ [ˈbɪ.ɾɚ] en-us-bitter.ogg

Word forms

bitter more bitter bitterer most bitter bitterest bitters bittering bittered

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰidrós Proto-Germanic *bitraz Proto-West Germanic *bitr Old English biter Middle English bittre English bitter From Middle English bitter, bittre, from Old English bitter, biter (“bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitr, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz (“bitter”), equivalent to bite + -er (agent noun suffix) used attributively. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bitter, West Frisian bitter, Low German bitter, Dutch bitter, German bitter, Swedish bitter, Icelandic bitur (all meaning “bitter”).

Synonyms

acrid caustic acerb acerbic bitter bittersome sharp jaded English pale ale EPA

Antonyms

optimistic sweet

Related words

bitter end bitterness

Derived words

bitter African daisy bitter albizia bitter almond bitter aloes bitter apple bitter bark bitter bean bitter bolete bitter bossie bitter bracket bitterbrush bitter buchu [pl=s bitterbush bitter cherry bitter chocolate bitter coco bitter cornsalad bittercress bitter-cress bitter cryptandra bitter cucumber bitter dock bitter dogbane bitter drumstick tree bitter fleabane bitter forest grape bitterful bitter funnel bitter ganna bitter gooseberry bitter gourd bitter grape bitter herbs bitter hickory bitter hymenoxys bitterish bitter kambro bitter karoo bitter karree bitter-leaf bitter leaf bitterless bitter lettuce bitterling bitterly bittermelon bitter melon bitter milkwort bitter myrobalan bitterness bitter nightshade) bitternut bitter nutmeg bitter orange bitterorange bitter oysterling bitter panicgrass bitter paramosage bitter pea
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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