Bitter

Definition: Bitter

Bitter

Adjective

1. Marked by strong resentment or cynicism; "an acrimonious dispute"; "bitter about the divorce".

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".

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".

Adverb

1. Extremely and sharply; "it was bitterly cold"; "bitter cold".

Noun

1. (British) dry sharp-tasting ale with strong flavor of hops.

2. The taste experience when quinine or coffee is taken into the mouth.

3. The property of having a harsh unpleasant taste.

Verb

1. Make bitter.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "bitter" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Bible

Food & Agriculture

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Bitter

Cold

Adjective: cold, cool; chill, chilly; icy; gelid, frigid, algid; fresh, keen, bleak, raw, inclement, bitter, biting, niveous, cutting, nipping, piercing, pinching; clay-cold; starved. (made cold); chilled to the bone, shivering. Verb: aguish, transi de froid; frostbitten, frost-bound, frost-nipped.

Discourtesy

Taint, sour, crabbed, sharp, short, trenchant, sarcastic, biting, doggish, caustic, virulent, bitter, acrimonious, venomous, contumelious; snarling; Verb: surly, surly as a bear; perverse; grim, sullen; a; peevish; (irascible).

Malevolence

Malicious; malign, malignant; rancorous; despiteful, spiteful; mordacious, caustic, bitter, envenomed, acrimonious, virulent; unamiable, uncharitable; maleficent, venomous, grinding, galling.

Pain

Adjective: causing pain, hurting; Verb: hurtful; (bad); painful; dolorific, dolorous; unpleasant; unpleasing, displeasing; disagreeable, unpalatable, bitter, distasteful; uninviting; unwelcome; undesirable, undesired; obnoxious; unacceptable, unpopular, thankless.

Pungency

Adjective: pungent, strong; high-, full-flavored; high-tasted, high-seasoned; gamy, sharp, stinging, rough, piquant, racy; biting, mordant; spicy; seasoned. Verb: hot, hot as pepper; peppery, vellicating, escharotic, meracious; acrid, acrimonious, bitter; rough. (sour); unsavory .

Resentment

Adjective: angry, wrath, irate; ireful, wrathful; cross; (irascible); Achillean; sulky; a; bitter, virulent; acrimonious; (discourteous); violent.

Unsavoriness

Adjective: unsavory, unpalatable, unsweetened, unsweet; ill-flavored; bitter, bitter as gall; acrid, acrimonious; rough.

Crosswords: Bitter

Afrikaan (acerbic, bitter), Danish (acerbic, bitter), Dutch (acerbic, bitter), German (abject, acerbic, acrid, acrimoniously, bitter, bitterly, bitters, cruel, deadly, grievous, hard, nasty, painful, pungent), Norwegian (acerbic, bitter), Portuguese (bitter), Swedish (acerbic, acrid, acrimonious, acute, bitter, jaundiced, severe, vitriolic).

Who knows what you have spoken to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all your life seems to shrink, the walls of your bower closing in about you, a hutch to trammel some wild thing in (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; writing credit: Frances Walsh)

But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold (Beauty and the Beast; writing credit: Roger Allers; Kelly Asbury)

Like Phillip Marlowe, we now saw the world for what it was: cold and bitter. Sad thing was, me and Marlowe had become infected by the disease (Radioactive Dreams; writing credit: Albert Pyun)

Oh, her bridal bower becomes a burial bier of bitter bereavement (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; writing credit: Burt Shevelove; Larry Gelbart)

Now, Debra, don't be bitter. Surely with your ever-growing collection of flesh-mutilating silver appendages and your brand new neo-nazi-boot-camp makeover, the boys'll come runnin' (Empire Records; writing credit: Carol Heikkinen)

Until the bitter end (Honesty; performing artist: Billy Joel)

Bitter cold within (Days Go By; performing artist: DIRTY VEGAS)

It's dark, it's moist, it's a bitter pain (Epic; performing artist: Faith No More)

Swallow all your bitter pills (Big Machine; performing artist: Goo Goo Dolls)

Turnin her nose up at people actin jealous and bitter (Get Away; performing artist: Jade)

Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. (references; author: Mark Twain)

Defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it. (references; author: unknown)

Some people are bitter, some sour; others are sweet. Who you hang out with depends on your taste. (references; author: unknown)

Bitter Melons (1971)

The Bitter Ash (1963)

Bitter Harvest (1963)

Part I Bitter Lotus (1960)

Bitter Heritage (1958)

Bitter Sweet Symphony (performing artist: The Verve)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• A Fine and Bitter Snow (reference)

• Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala (reference)

• Bitter Harvest (reference)

• Bitter Java (reference)

• Bitter Legacy: Newsmax.Com Reveals the Untold Story of the Clinton-Gore Years (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• Bitter Oleander (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies

• Peach & Bitter Song (reference)

• Toll Gate/His Bitter Pill (reference)

• Tommy James & Shondells - Live at the Bitter End (reference)

• Bitter Moon (reference)

• Bitter Sugar (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Tan Dun: Bitter Love (reference)

• Bitter (reference)

• Out of This World: Live at the Bitter End [LIVE] (reference)

• The At the Bitter End [LIVE] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Closeup shot of bitter root (Lewisia rediviva). Credit: John Craig.

Farshot of bitter root (Lewisia rediviva). Credit: John Craig.

Poisoning tick host ground squirrels in Wester Montana's Bitter Root Valley. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

The Bitter Draught. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Meets with Eqyptian King Farouk, on board USS Quincy (CA-71) in the Great Bitter Lake, Egypt, on 13 February 1945, following the Yalta Conference. View looks aft along the cruiser's port side from atop her second eight-inch gun turret. Note 5"/38 twin gun mounts, 20mm guns and details of the ship's open bridge. Credit: NAVY.

It's bitter, Uncle, but the quicker you swallow it, the better for you. Credit: Library of Congress.

The bitter tea of Mr. Mao / Gib Crockett. Credit: Library of Congress.

Deep Cut, Bitter Creek, near Green River. Credit: Library of Congress.

First train going through the C.M. & St. P. Pass, Bitter Root Mountains, Idaho. Credit: Library of Congress.

The olive oil this California workman makes is clear, golden and pure, but his hands are almost permanently stained by the bitter ripe olives which produce the oil. Lindsay, California. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time, dosed the German working-class risings. (reference)

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

To young impulsive hearts, like hers, disappointment is always a bitter pill

And along with that there were many bitter experiences

It was one day down in Arklow, a cold bitter day, not long before the chief died

My Lord of Gloucester, I have too long borne Your blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

It has a distinctive bitter chemical taste. (references)

Mefloquine, chloroquine, and Malarone™ taste very bitter. (references)

A white, odorless, bitter tasting crystalline powder that can be easily dissolved in water or alcohol. (references)

Business

Tooheys in New South Wales, Victoria Bitter (VB) in Victoria, Swan in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, VB and Fosters Lager in South Australia, and VB and Cascade in Tasmania. (references)

Economic History

Turkey

The nationalists expelled invading Greek forces from Anatolia after a bitter war. (references)

Colombia

Two civil wars resulted from bitter rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties. (references)

Finland

In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter civil war that colored domestic politics for many years. (references)

Political Economy

France

The Jospin government has put off reform of the pension system, mindful of the bitter experience of its center-right predecessor when it attempted to tackle this highly emotional issue. (references)

Ecuador

Under the Noboa administration, there have been frequent bitter clashes among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, particularly on matters involving the public budget, banking and presidential appointments. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Bitter

Waxing bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Who becomes bitter

Bitter

Bitter contrition

Bitter contrition

Bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Who becomes bitter

Who becomes bitter

Who becomes bitter

Who becomes bitter

Who becomes bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Bitter

Expressions using "bitter": a bitter cup ♦ angostura bitter ♦ become bitter ♦ bitter almond ♦ bitter almond oil ♦ bitter aloes ♦ bitter apple ♦ bitter as gall ♦ bitter beer ♦ bitter betch ♦ bitter cassava ♦ bitter chocolate ♦ bitter cold ♦ Bitter cress ♦ Bitter cucumber ♦ bitter dock ♦ bitter draught ♦ Bitter earth ♦ bitter end ♦ bitter feeling ♦ bitter floom ♦ Bitter gourd ♦ bitter herb ♦ bitter hickory ♦ bitter lemon ♦ Bitter Melon ♦ Bitter oak ♦ bitter orange ♦ bitter orange tree ♦ bitter oranges ♦ bitter pea ♦ bitter pecan ♦ bitter pignut ♦ bitter pill ♦ bitter pill to take ♦ bitter pit ♦ Bitter principle ♦ Bitter principles ♦ bitter resentment ♦ bitter rot ♦ bitter salt ♦ bitter salts ♦ bitter spar ♦ bitter tomato ♦ bitter vetch ♦ bitter winter ♦ bitter words ♦ gentian bitter ♦ imitation oil of bitter almonds ♦ it was bitter cold ♦ make bitter ♦ oil of bitter almonds ♦ quinova bitter ♦ smirch a bitter smile ♦ sugar coating on a bitter pill ♦ take the bitter with the sweet ♦ taste bitter ♦ to the bitter end ♦ tonic alcoholic drink with a little bitter taste. Additional references.

Beginning with "bitter": bitter-bark, bitter-eyed, bitter-flavoured, bitter-lemon, bitter-looking, bitter-orange, bitter-slurping, bitter-sweet, bitter-sweetly, bitter-sweetness, bitter-swilling, bitter-tasting, bitter-vetch, bitter-white.

Ending with "bitter": half-a-bitter, light-and-bitter, still-bitter.

Afrikaans

bitter (acerbic). (various references)

Albanian

që të pret (cutting, keen, nippy, piercing), i vuajtshëm (dolorous), i papëlqyeshëm (disagreeable, distasteful, harsh, indecent, invidious, nasty, undesirable), i hidhur (acid, acidulated, acrid, acrimonious, distressing, salt, sardonic), i hidhët (acrid, dry), i hidhëruar (dejected, disappointed, distressed, distressful, doleful, sorrowful, sorry). (various references)

Arabic 

‏مرير (bitterly, salt), ‏مرارة (bitterish, bitterness, gall, grief, soreness, vinegar, wormwood), ‏مر (acrid, embittered, go along, go by, go over, go past, pass, pass by), ‏لاذع (acerb, acid, acrid, acrimonious, biting, bitterly, burning, caustic, cutting, harsh, hot, keen, mordant, nippy, peppery, piquant, poignant, pungent, rough, salty, sarcastic, savory, savoury, scathing, scorching, sharp, sharp tongued, smarting, snappish, snappy, spicy, spiteful, stinging, tart, waspish), ‏لدود (deadly, inveterate, stubborn), ‏قارض (rodent), ‏ساخر (biting, cutting, cynic, cynical, derisive, derisory, epigram, giber, ironic, ironical, irradiant, lampooner, lampoonist, laughable, persiflage, quizzical, sarcastic, sardonic, saturnine, sneerer, snide, tongue in cheek, wry), ‏عنيف (dragon's, drastic, fell, fierce, gory, heady, impetuous, knockabout, outrageous, passionate, rabid, rigorous, robust, rough, rude, ruthless, scurrilous, set, severe, sharp, shrewd, smart, stiff, stout, strenuous, stringent, strong, torricellian, tough, tumultuous, turbulent, vehement, violent, volcanic). (various references)

Bulgarian 

рязък (abrupt, acid, brief, brusque, curt, gravelly, hard, incisive, jarring, jerky, metallic, offhand, pipy, point blank, rapid, rude, sharp, short, short-spoken, shrill, snappish, snappy, snippy, stark, straight out, strident, trenchant), горчивина (bitterness, poignancy), горчив (poignant, salt), остър (acid, acrid, acrimonious, acute, angular, argute, arrowy, biting, crusty, cutting, edgy, excruciating, fine, fulminating, gabled, grating, gravelly, grinding, high pitched, keen, lancinating, metallic, nice, nipping, nippy, penetrating, penetrative, peppery, perspicacious, piercing, piquant, poignant, pointed, pungent, ragged, searching, sharp, shrill, slashing, stiff, strident, strong, tangy, trenchant), озлобен (acerbate, embittered), ожесточен (acrid, keen, stiff, warm), непримирим (die hard, immitigable, intransigent, irreconcilable, unappeasable, unforgiving, unrelenting, warring). (various references)

Catalan

amarg (acerbic). (various references)

Chinese 

苦涩, 苦 (intensely, miserable, painful). (various references)

Czech

zatrpklý (acidulated, acrimonious, embittered, jaundiced, resentful, sardonic, sour), trpký (dry, harsh, painful, sour, tart, unpalatable), třeskutý (hard), lítý (ferocious, fierce, unrelenting), krutý (atrocious, brutal, cruel, dispiteous, extreme, fierce, gory, grim, hard, harsh, heartless, heathenish, rigid, ruthless, savage, severe, torsion, unkind, unrelenting, vicious, wolfish), hořký (unpalatable), úhlavní (chief). (various references)

Danish

bitter (acerbic). (various references)

Dutch

bitter (acerbic). (various references)

Esperanto

maldolĉa, amara. (various references)

Faeroese

beiskur (acerbic). (various references)

Farsi 

تیز (Acute, Brisk, Caustic, Glassy, Hot, Incisive, Keen, Pike, Poignant, Pointy, Pungent, Sharp, Shrill, Trenchant), تلخ (Virulent), طعنه امیز (Nippy, Sarcastic, Sardonic), جگرسوز. (various references)

Finnish

kitkerä (acrid, harsh), katkera, karvas (harsh, tart). (various references)

French

amer (bile, bitterish). (various references)

German

bitter (abject, acerbic, acrid, acrimoniously, bitterly, bitters, cruel, deadly, grievous, hard, nasty, painful, pungent). (various references)

Greek 

πικρός (acrid, acrimonious). (various references)

Hebrew 

מרירי (poisonous), מריר (acrid, pungent, tart), מרור (bitter herb), מר (acerb, embittered, esquire, mr.), צורב (biting, burning, caustic). (various references)

Hungarian

keserû (acerbic), elkeseredett (acrimonious, desperate, disappointed, embittered, grim, heart broken). (various references)

Indonesian

pahit, getir. (various references)

Italian

amaro (acerbic, bitters). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

苦い, 痛烈 (scathing, severe). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

しぶい (an aura of refined masculinity, astringent, grim, quiet, sober, stingy, sullen, tasteful), しんらつ (acrimonious, sharp), うらめしい (hateful, reproachful), つうれつ (scathing, severe), にがい. (various references)

Korean 

쓴. (various references)

Malay

pahit (acerbic). (various references)

Manx

sharroo (acid, acidific, acrid, acrimonious, cutting, embittered, sardonic, sour, tart, vitriolic), gort (brackish, high, high as game, hurt, rank, sour, sour of land, stale, vinegarish, vinegary), geyre (abrupt, acrid, acute, austere, bold, bold promintary, censorious, cutting, discerning, edged, hard, high-pitched, incisive, knifelike, penetrating, piercing, poignant, pointed, pungent, quick of sight, sharp, sour, stiff, strict, stringent, twinging), gart (high as game; cornland, high; cornland, sour, sour of land, stale), gargaghey, garg (acrid, austere, brusque, harsh, pungent, tuneless). (various references)

Norwegian

sur (acerbic, acetous, acid, crabby, dismal, grumpy, sour, tart), bitter (acerbic). (various references)

Papiamen

marga (acerbic). (various references)

Pig Latin

itterbay.(various references)

Portuguese

amargo (acerbic, salt, sour). (various references)

Romanian

bere amarã, amar (bitterly, bitterness, dreadful, gall, poignant, rude, salt, severe, sore, sour, suffering), amãrãciune (bitterness, gall, grief, poignancy, sorrow, vinegar, Wormwood). (various references)

Russian 

резкий (abrupt, acrid, acute, bluffy, brusque, crusty, curt, harsh, incisive, jarring, keen, loud, pipy, rough, rude, screechy, sharp, short, shrewd, strident, tart), горький жестоко, горький (poignant), озлобленный (acerbate, embittered), жестокий (atrocious, barbarous, bloody minded, bloody-minded, brutal, brutish, butcherly, cruel, cutthroat, despiteful, doggish, ferocious, fiendish, fierce, grim, hard bitten, heathenish, heavy-handed, inhuman, inhumane, iron-handed, keen, mortal, satrapic, uncharitable, unfeeling, unkind, unrelenting). (various references)

Scottish

searbh (acrid, disagreeable, pungent, sour), geur (abrasive, acerbic, acid, acrid, acrimonious, acute, lurid, sharp, sharp pointed, shrewd; acrid), garg (acrid, fierce, pungent, tart, wrathful). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

ogorčen (acrimonious, embittered, exasperated, huffy, indignant), ljut (angry, cross, grim, hot, huffish, mad, peppery, pissed, racy, severe), jedak (acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, astringent, biting, caustic, scathing, sharp, sour, vitriolic), gorak, žučan (atrabilious, blistering, choleric), žestok (blistering, boisterous, intense, mettled, mettlesome, racy, right-down, rough and tumble, severe, uncanny, vehement, vicious, violent, white hot). (various references)

Spanish

amargo (acerbic). (various references)

Sranan

bita (acerbic). (various references)

Swahili

-chungu (acerbic), chungu (cooking pot, jug, pot). (various references)

Swedish

bitter (acerbic, acrid, acrimonious, acute, jaundiced, severe, vitriolic), besk (acerbic, bitters, stewed, tart), hätsk (hateful, ill natured, invidious, rancorous, spiteful). (various references)

Tagalog

mapaít (acerbic). (various references)

Thai

หนาวจัด (gelid, keen), ขมขื่น (rancorous), ขม. (various references)

Turkish

yakıcı (burner, burning, parching, piquant, poignant, scorching, torrid), xíddetlí (acerbic), sert (acrid, adamant, astringent, austere, bad, boisterous, bossy, brisk, brutal, cast iron, crusty, cutting, drastic, exact, exacting, fierce, firm, flinty, forbidding, get-tough, granitic, grim, gruff, gusty, hard, hard and fast, hard bitten, hard line, hard set, hardening, hard-hitting, harsh, heady, heavy, heavy-handed, hot, ill natured, inclement, incompressible, inelastic, intemperate, iron, ironclad, keen, nappy, pointed, pungent, rigid, rigorous, rough, round, sclerous, severe, sharp, sharp-set, short, short-spoken, shrewd, smart, solid, sound, spanking, spartan, spiky, stand up, starched, starchy, stark, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, strong, surly, tart, tough, unbending, ungentle, unkind, unrelenting, unshaded, unyielding, vehement, violent), keskinlik (acridity, acuity, acuteness, bite, bitterness, edge, intension, keenness, mordacity, mordancy, penetration, piquancy, poignancy, pointedness, pungency, quickness, sharpness, tartness, trenchancy, virulence), keskin (acrid, acute, biting, blazing, chiseled, chiselled, cutting, dead, deep, edged, exquisite, incisive, keen, keen-edged, mordacious, nipping, nippy, penetrating, penetrative, piercing, piquant, poignant, pointed, pungent, quick, searching, severe, sharp, sharp cut, sharp-edged, sharp-set, smart, sour, spiky, splitting, stinging, strong, tart, trenchant), keskín (acerbic), iliklere işleyen, şiddetli (acute, astringent, brutal, burning, cast iron, consuming, deep, drastic, exquisite, extreme, ferocious, flaming, flash, forceful, frenetic, frenzied, fulminant, furious, gusty, hard, harsh, heavy, high, hot, impetuous, intemperate, intense, intensive, ironclad, keen, profound, rigorous, round, severe, sharp, slashing, sledgehammer, smacking, smart, smashing, spanking, splitting, stand up, stern, stinging, stormy, strenuous, strong, sweeping, tempestuous, torrential, vehement, vicious, vigorous, violent, virulent), aci (acerbic, ache, affliction, annoyance, dejection, disappointment, grief, pain, sadness, sorrow), acılık (acerbity, bite, bitterness, heat, keenness, piquancy, poignancy, pungency), acılı (disconsolate, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, hot, mourning, sad, sorrowful, spicy), acı (ache, acidulous, acrid, affliction, anguish, biting, brackish, cutting, distress, gnawing, grief, grievous, harsh, heartbreak, hot, hurt, incisive, lamentable, misery, nippy, pain, painful, pang, peppery, poignant, pungent, sad, sardonic, scathing, severe, shrill, sorrow, sorrowful, splitting, sting, suffering, tragic, trenchant, vitriolic, worry). (various references)

Ukrainian

сильний (acute, athletic, bad, bull, cordial, deep, driving, nervous, nervy, penetrating, potent, powerful, punchy, quick, sharp, smart, spanking, strong, swingeing, vehement, vigorous), робити гірким, гіркий (austere, brutal), злий (bad, bad tempered, blackhearted, carping, evil, ill, ill natured, puckish, snappish, snotty, vicious, wicked), жахливо (almighty, appallingly, awfully, beastly, devilish, dogged, dreadfully, fearfully, ferociously, frightfully, grievously, horribly, lamentably, sadly, woefully), болісний (afflictive, cruel, distressful, dolorous, excruciating, fell, harrowing, poignant, racking, sore), дуже (anxiously, awfully, bang, bloody, clinking, curiously, deep, enormously, exceedingly, frightfully, full, gey, greatly, hard, heaps, highly, hugely, immensely, in great measure, jolly, mightily, mighty, miles, much, nervously, notably, particularly, passing, precious, purely, real, really, shocking, some, strong, super, thumping, too, very, very much, violently, well, widely). (various references)

Vietnamese 

vừa ngọt (bitter-sweet), dư vị vừa ngọt (bitter-sweet). (various references)

Welsh

tost (acute, austere, ill, severe, sharp, sick, sore), chwerw (acrid, acrimonious, severe, sharp), agerw (fierce). (various references)

Yucatec

k'aah (acerbic). (various references)

a-�e�, zi. (various references)

acerbus. (various references)

biter, heard. (various references)