bitter
bitter — adjective
1. having a strong, sharp flavour that is not sweet, like the taste of black coffee
having a strong, sharp flavour that is not sweet, like the taste of black coffee or dark chocolate without sugar.
Noa took one sip of the black coffee and made a face at how bitter it tasted.
predicative: taste + bitter
Noa warned the children that raw kale leaves taste quite bitter without any dressing.
subject is a food item
The medicine left a bitter taste in Tomás's mouth for nearly an hour.
collocation: bitter taste
Camille added two spoons of sugar to soften the bitter flavour of the tea.
collocation: bitter flavour
Grandpa Tan loves bitter foods like grapefruit, green olives, and unsweetened dark chocolate.
attributive: bitter + food noun
- bitter taste
- bitter flavour
- bitter aftertaste
- slightly bitter
- taste bitter
Usage Note
Common subjects are foods, drinks, and medicines. Often paired with the nouns 'taste', 'flavour', or 'aftertaste'.
Common Mistakes
2. feeling angry and hurt for a long time because you believe you have been treated
feeling angry and hurt for a long time because you believe you have been treated badly and cannot let it go.
Ten years after the divorce, Rohan is still bitter about losing the house.
bitter about + noun phrase
Tomás grew bitter when his younger sister was promoted ahead of him.
become/grow + bitter
Camille warned his daughter not to let one failed audition make her bitter about acting.
make someone bitter
Aunt Rosa sounded bitter as she described how her old friends had forgotten her.
sound/feel/look + bitter
- bitter about
- feel bitter
- grow bitter
- deeply bitter
- bitter rival
- resentful
very close in meaning; slightly more formal
- embittered
stronger; suggests the feeling has built up over years
Grammar Patterns
bitter about something
bitter at someone
Usage Note
Subject is normally a person. Distinguish from sense 3 (RESENTFUL, the inner feeling) versus sense 4 (HOSTILE, words/actions that show that feeling).
Common Mistakes
3. describing an event, fact, or experience that brings deep sadness or pain and is
describing an event, fact, or experience that brings deep sadness or pain and is hard to accept.
Losing the championship in the final minute was a bitter blow for the whole team.
collocation: bitter blow
The closing of the family bakery was a bitter disappointment for Camille and his mother.
collocation: bitter disappointment
Noa learned a bitter lesson the day her best friend lied to her in court.
collocation: bitter lesson
The truth about Tomás's father came as a bitter shock to the whole family.
come as a bitter shock
- bitter blow
- bitter disappointment
- bitter lesson
- bitter truth
- bitter experience
Usage Note
Almost always used attributively before nouns such as 'blow', 'disappointment', 'lesson', 'shock', 'truth', or 'experience'. Rarely predicative.
Common Mistakes
4. showing strong hatred or anger through words, fights, or arguments between peopl
showing strong hatred or anger through words, fights, or arguments between people or groups.
The two political parties have been bitter enemies for over thirty years.
collocation: bitter enemies
A bitter argument broke out between Rohan and his brother at the dinner table.
collocation: bitter argument
The Lior family lawsuit ended after a long and bitter court battle that lasted four years.
collocation: bitter battle
The neighbours on Oak Street called the fence dispute the most bitter quarrel they had ever seen.
predicative: bitter + dispute noun
- bitter enemy
- bitter rival
- bitter argument
- bitter feud
- bitter dispute
Usage Note
Distinguish from sense 2: sense 4 modifies the visible conflict (an 'argument', 'rivalry', 'feud'); sense 2 modifies the person carrying the inner hurt.
Common Mistakes
5. describing weather or wind that is so cold it actually hurts your face, hands, o
describing weather or wind that is so cold it actually hurts your face, hands, or ears.
A bitter wind blew off the lake and stung the children's cheeks as they walked to school.
collocation: bitter wind
Rohan pulled his scarf tighter against the bitter January air.
attributive: bitter + weather noun
It was bitter on the mountain that morning, well below minus ten.
predicative weather use: it was bitter
The hikers turned back when the bitter cold made their fingers go numb.
collocation: bitter cold
- bitter wind
- bitter cold
- bitter winter
- bitterly cold
Usage Note
Subjects are typically 'wind', 'cold', 'weather', 'winter', or the impersonal 'it'. The adverb form 'bitterly' is common with 'cold' (see adverb sense).
Common Mistakes
Something that is very hard to accept or deal with.
Losing the championship was a bitter pill for the team to swallow.
For Sara, failing the exam was a bitter pill to swallow.
Continuing with something until it is completely finished, no matter how difficult.
The workers vowed to fight for their rights until the bitter end.
Did you really stay at that boring party until the bitter end?
bitter — noun
1. a dark brown English beer with a strong, slightly sharp flavour, served from a t
a dark brown English beer with a strong, slightly sharp flavour, served from a tap in pubs.
Dad ordered a pint of bitter at the village pub after the long walk.
collocation: a pint of bitter
The barman pulled two glasses of bitter for the men sitting by the window.
collocation: glass of bitter
The Red Lion in our village still serves a good local bitter on draught every evening.
attributive: local + bitter
Rohan prefers a cold lager, but his grandfather only drinks bitter.
uncountable: drink bitter
- pint of bitter
- glass of bitter
- local bitter
- draught bitter
Grammar Patterns
a pint of bitter
Usage Note
Mainly British English. Often uncountable when referring to the drink type, countable ('a bitter') when ordering a glass at a pub.
Common Mistakes
2. a strong alcoholic liquid made from herbs and spices, added in small drops to co
a strong alcoholic liquid made from herbs and spices, added in small drops to cocktails to give a sharp flavour.
The bartender added a few drops of bitters to the old fashioned cocktail.
collocation: drops of bitters
At the hotel bar, Rohan reached for the Angostura bitters to finish the Manhattan.
attributive: brand of bitters
A small dash of orange bitters made the gin and tonic taste much better.
collocation: dash of bitters
Tomás keeps a small bottle of herbal bitters on the top shelf for cocktail nights.
attributive: herbal bitters
- a dash of bitters
- drops of bitters
- orange bitters
- Angostura bitters
- tonic
old-fashioned use for a similar herbal drink, though tonic today usually means tonic water
Grammar Patterns
a dash of bitters
Usage Note
Almost always used in the plural form 'bitters'. In bar contexts, treat it as a flavouring, not a drink on its own.
Common Mistakes
bitter — verb
1. to give something a sharp, unpleasant flavour, or to fill someone with lasting a
to give something a sharp, unpleasant flavour, or to fill someone with lasting anger and hurt.
Adding too many hops bittered the ale and ruined the brewer's whole afternoon batch.
literal: object is a food/drink
Years of unfair treatment had bittered Aunt Rosa against the whole company.
figurative: bitter someone against
The long inheritance dispute bittered the relationship between Rohan and his younger brother forever.
figurative: bitter a relationship
Years of unfair pay reviews had bittered Camille against the entire management team.
figurative: bitter someone against
- bitter someone against
- bitter a relationship
- sweeten
for taste; also used figuratively of moods
Grammar Patterns
bitter + object
Usage Note
Rare in modern English; the form 'embitter' is far more common for the figurative sense. Only use 'bitter' as a verb in formal or literary writing.
Common Mistakes
bitter — adverb
1. to a sharp, painful, or severe degree — a poetic or older form of the modern adv
to a sharp, painful, or severe degree — a poetic or older form of the modern adverb 'bitterly'.
All night the wind blew bitter across the moor and rattled the cottage shutters.
literary: blow + bitter (= bitterly)
Rohan mourned bitter the loss of his hunting dog in the empty stone house.
literary: mourn + bitter (= bitterly)
The old soldier wept bitter at the graveside for friends lost at sea.
literary: weep + bitter (= bitterly)
The widow's voice rang bitter as she remembered the day her husband marched to war.
literary: ring/sound + bitter (= bitterly)
- weep bitter
- blow bitter
- sweetly
the figurative opposite, also somewhat literary
Usage Note
Almost only seen in poetry, hymns, and older literature. In everyday writing, replace it with the adverb 'bitterly'.
Common Mistakes
Word family
- bitterlyadverbB2
- bitternessnounB2
- embitterverbC1
- embitteredadjectiveC1
- bittersweetadjectiveC1
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
All five words describe tastes that are not sweet, but they fit different foods. 'Bitter' is the strong, often unpleasant taste of black coffee, dark chocolate, or grapefruit peel — your tongue feels it at the back. 'Sour' is the acidic taste of lemons, vinegar, or yogurt; it makes your mouth pucker at the front. 'Sharp' is a softer cover word that can mean either bitter or sour, often used about cheeses and sauces. 'Tart' is a pleasant kind of sourness — think cranberries or green apples. 'Acrid' is the strongest of all, used for burnt or chemical tastes and smells, such as smoke or strong spices. So you might say a lemon is sour, a grapefruit is bitter, a cranberry is tart, an aged cheese is sharp, and burning rubber smells acrid.
Common collocations
Adverbs
- deeply
- increasingly
- slightly
- intensely
Phrases
- a bitter pill to swallow
- to the bitter end
- leave a bitter taste
Prepositions
- bitter about
- bitter at
- bitter towards
Etymology
The word goes back to Old English 'biter', meaning sharp or cutting, and is closely linked to the verb 'bite'. The original idea is that something bitter 'bites' the tongue or mind. From Germanic roots shared with German 'bitter' and Dutch 'bitter'. The taste meaning came first; the figurative meanings about anger, painful events, and freezing weather grew later by extension, all keeping the underlying sense of sharpness and pain.